Natural Product Sciences Inc., 420 Chipeta Way, has received notification that FMC Corp. will continue its support of a collaborative research program with NPS.
Following the signing of a multi-year, multimillion dollar contract by both firms in 1989, NPS and FMC began collaborating on identifying and developing arthropod toxins for the control of major crop pests. The transaction included patent and license agreements and an equity purchase agreement.NPS's continued research includes the identification of compounds from venomous intertebrates that are toxic to insects but don't appear to be toxic to mammals.
"Toxins from arthropods such as spiders have evolved over hundreds of millions of years to be extremely insecticidal. These natural toxins constitute an immense library of novel compounds," said Hunter Jackson, NPS president.
"We're enthusiastic about our relationships with NPS and the prospects for developing alternatives to tradition crop protection products," said William Van Saun, FMC director of discovery research.