Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, Encephalitides, Yellow Fever, Rift Valley Fever, West Nile virus, these are just few of the various mosquito-transmitted diseases that profoundly affect mankind. Much efforts have been made to eradicate the pest which has caused grief to billions worldwide. Much closer to home, most Malaysians are aware of the dangers of dengue and have known someone who has been infected with the highly infectious disease.

Currently, an advanced technology developed by Professor Dov Borovsky at the University of Florida promises to help eradicate the endemic with minimal effects on the environment. EntoGeneX Industries Sdn Bhd (EGXI) is a BioNexus status subsidiary of EntoGeneX International Ltd. The company holds a sublicense to commercialize the Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor (TMOF) and EGX-101 BioRepellent technologies in Malaysia and is currently in the process of creating a name for itself as a natural biotechnology solution for controlling mosquito populations.

TMOF is a peptide which can be obtained from mosquitoes and are expressed in yeast cells, Pichia pastoris. TMOF forms the basis of a highly specific mosquito larvicide product which is non-toxic and biodegradable. By synergizing with Bti, TMOF from yeast was shown to increase 100 times in efficiency and can potentially affect all stages of mosquito larvae. Similarly, EGX-101 an alternative to DEET, is a natural pest repellent, and compliments the larvicide as an adult mosquito repellent.

Speaking to Dr. Alan E. Brandt, Director Technology & Innovation of EGXI, he confided that one of the reasons EGXI was set up was due to the fact that “Malaysia has the need (Dengue, Chikungunya), the desire (Stop Dengue Program, MOH) and the financial resources to make a significant impact on mosquito disease transmission.”

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“Bringing the technology to Malaysia was not particularly challenging,” he said. “We have licensed world-wide rights to the TMOF technology from the University of Florida. It was more of a challenge to obtain the resources necessary to establish the TMOF technology in Malaysia. We were fortunate to obtain support from MOSTI (Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation) to initiate production. We have also obtained support from BioTech Corp as well as Malaysian Universities (UKM, UTM) without whose technical expertise it would have been quite difficult. It has been a challenge to get firmly established as the requisite underlying expertise in intellectual property, accounting, legal, venture capital, and general public awareness of the potential for Biotechnology is still in its development stages in Malaysia.”