Enko Chem, Inc. announced  that a novel fungicide class of chemistry developed in collaboration with Syngenta Crop Protection has advanced to field testing. The chemistries, discovered through Enko’s ENKOMPASS™ discovery platform, represent a breakthrough in the discovery of effective and safe molecules targeting a novel mode of action that has been the focus of industry efforts for decades.

The ongoing program is focused on providing an additional tool to help manage fungal pathogens in cereal production worldwide. Fungal pathogens remain among the most economically damaging threats to global crop production, with yield losses in the billions of dollars annually. The development of resistance to existing chemistries makes the discovery of new modes of action a critical priority for sustainable agriculture.

The collaboration utilized Enko’s precision ENKOMPASS platform, which applies DNA-encoded libraries, machine learning, and structural biology to evaluate large numbers of potential molecules with an emphasis on critical performance characteristics.

Syngenta plans to conduct field testing next year at several locations to assess performance under typical grower conditions. The advancement to the next phase of the collaboration was based on data generated to date in controlled environments.

“This milestone reflects steady progress in a complex area of crop protection research,” said Tony Klemm, CEO of Enko. “We look forward to the next stage of work with Syngenta as testing moves into field environments.”

Enko’s collaboration with Syngenta focuses on discovering and developing new chemistry for novel modes of action for key crop protection challenges.