Syngenta has announced three of its active ingredients, Tymirium, Plinazolin and Adepidyn, are currently pacing to achieve $1 billion per year in global sales within the next few years. The company says this is part of its strategy to introduce better products at a faster rate.
“We’ve committed to accelerating the pace of innovation while also dramatically improving the quality of each new innovation we introduce so we can give farmers the tools they need to feed the world while protecting the planet,’’ said Camilla Corsi, Syngenta’s head of crop protection research. “The success of solutions such as Tymirium technology, Plinazolin technology and adepidyn technology shows our strategy is working.”
Tymirium and Adepidyn are both fungicides, while Plinazolin is an insecticide and Syngenta’s fastest-growing technology to date.
The company calls the milestone these products will hit the “billion-dollar club”. To reach this point, they say it must meet three main criteria:
- Contain an active ingredient that is vastly superior to existing alternatives in terms of efficacy, cost and environmental sustainability profile.
- Work on a broad range of crops, in a variety of climatic conditions and against pests and diseases that plague multiple regions around the world.
- Satisfy regulatory requirements, which can vary greatly from country to country.
Because producing a new active ingredient can take 10 to 15 years, Syngenta emphasizes the importance of identifying what issues could be on the horizon for the ag industry and what product categories will need to grow.
“We need to have a crystal ball and look 10 to 15 years in the future,” said Ioana Tudor, Syngenta’s global head of marketing for crop protection. “We need to think about, ‘How will the climate evolve? What pests and weeds will be threatening crops? Will the solutions that work today work in the future, or will there be resistance? How will regulations evolve?’ Then we need to design molecules that are efficacious, cost-effective and registerable — and that meet farmers’ greatest needs better than the competition.”
Corsi shares Syngenta has created a team devoted to identifying molecules’ mode of action and which ones have the right attributes to become an effective product, such as how its ability to protect crops, withstand adverse weather conditions and coexist with beneficial organisms.
“Once we know which component of the molecule we need to control the pest, disease or weed we’re targeting, we use computational chemistry to refine that molecule until we’ve satisfied all of our conditions,’’ Corsi said, “With Tymirium technology, for example, we designed our molecule so that it targets plant-parasitic nematodes — but leaves helpful nematodes and other microorganisms intact.”
Looking toward the future, Syngenta wants to reach this milestone with more specialized products that focus on specific crops, climates and threats.
“With our blockbusters and with our specialized products, we need to bring clear innovation to growers,” Corsi said. “Growers know what’s best for their fields and crops, and they’re the ones who decide whether a product becomes a blockbuster. Growers are the ones who decide whether our years of research and development are worth it.”
