Oxitec Brazil

Public Health

Oxitec Brazil has been deploying our self-limiting Friendly™ Aedes solution in Brazil since 2011. In 2019 we began a partnership with the Wellcome Trust and the city of Indaiatuba to deploy Oxitec’s next-generation Friendly™ Aedes aegypti. In 2022 our second scale-up season began.  

In 2022, Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti was made available to customers across Brazil through commercial relationships with leading pest control companies, and distribution partners that deploy our solutions in every state in Brazil.  

Aedes aegypti in Brazil

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is an increasingly global threat, now living alongside half of the world’s population. After decades of effort, there is still no cure or specific treatment for many diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti.  

Unfortunately, existing methods of controlling Aedes aegypti, such as spraying or fogging using chemical insecticides, have failed to prevent the spread of disease. This is partly because Aedes aegypti has developed resistance to insecticides, rendering many common chemicals less effective in controlling the mosquito, it is also an aggressive day-biter and thrives in urban environments. 

In 2022, Brazil recorded 1,016 confirmed deaths from dengue, 400% higher than the previous year, and the highest registered in one year. The number of cases of dengue in 2022 was around 1.4 million – 164% higher than in 2021, according to the Ministry of Health. 

Food Sustainability

The fall armyworm is a destructive pest that has devastated crop production across the world. Fall armyworms’ hunger for maize and nearly 350 other different plant species causes significant losses for farmers and poses a serious threat to food security and economic sustainability worldwide.  

In April 2023, Oxitec began a new season of Friendly™ fall armyworm pilot deployments on commercial farms in Brazil’s key corn-growing state, Mato Grosso, follows season-long deployments further south, in São Paulo state. These deployments, conducted over thousands of acres of corn, are enabling optimization and validation of Friendly™ fall armyworm distribution and deployment systems in preparation for commercial launch. 

Further product development and pre-commercial scale-up are underway now.