Micropep Technologies, a leader in micropeptide technology for agriculture applications has received a significant regulatory milestone from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has classified Micropep’s peptide-based biofungicide MPD-01 as a “biochemical-like” active ingredient due to its natural source and non-toxic mode of action.
This classification allows Micropep to engage with the EPA to confirm data and labeling requirements to obtain a registration for MPD-01, bringing this product to market. Compared to conventional chemical pesticides, MPD-01 presents a favorable human and environmental safety profile, is less toxic to humans and wildlife, more selective for the fungal pathogen, effective at lower dose rates, and rapidly biodegrades in the environment.
“We’ve implemented and used a generative artificial intelligence (AI) pipeline to create a library of thousands of antifungal peptides compatible with proprietary manufacturing rules. The prediction model has been built from public and Micropep-owned experimental data to predict the antimicrobial activity of a peptide,” said Mikael Courbot, CTO of Micropep. “Micropep’s pipeline generated thousands of peptides from a seed sequence and selected those with the highest probability to be active, stable, and producible.”
The organization’s commitment to innovation and sustainability in agriculture is reflected in its pipeline of products to address the growing demand for sustainably produced food. Third-party field trials have shown MPD-01 delivering up to 75% disease control, whereas most bio-control competitors barely reach 50%.
“We have tested MPD-01 efficacy in research trials over the last three years in soybeans, wheat, and potatoes in South America, and we have seen significant effects of this technology in terms of yield and quality. We expect this innovative and flexible bio-solution will enable growers to conserve scarce resources as they embrace regenerative agriculture,” said Mariano Battista, Director of AgIdea.
