Lepidext developed and patented a new, biological, active ingredient to control one of the most damaging agricultural pests of corn, cotton, soybeans and many other important crops.
Lepidext has a new solution to an old problem of controlling the corn earworm (CEW) and old world bollworm (OWB) pest complex. These two insects are considered the most important pests of agriculture costing annual damage and cost of control of $7-10 B globally. They are pests of dozens of food and fiber crops, are resistant to many insecticides including several of the pesticides expressed in genetically engineered crops such as corn, cotton and soybeans. They feed on the most valuable parts of the plant and are a primary pest that supports secondary infestations of insect and fungal pathogen that further damage the crop. The Lepidext solution is to sterilize the adult moths and prevent infestation and damage. It is based on a natural pathogenic virus of these moths Helicoverpa zea nudivirus 2 (HzNV2). The natural virus is found worldwide and does little to control the corn earworm and old world bollworm populations because most of the virus infections are asymptomatic and do not sterilize the moths. Lepidext has isolated a variant of HzNV2 that lacks the asymptomatic phase of the life cycle so that virus infections sterilize all moths that become infected with the virus. Sterilizing infections reduce pest populations in the lab and in the field trials.
Bruce Webb PhD, CEO. Bruce has over 30 years of experience working with insect pests and their pathogenic viruses. Maria Labreveux, PhD Executive on Roster. Maria has a doctorate in Agronomy but her role is business strategy and fund-raising where she has over 20 years experience. Angelika Fath-Goodin PhD CFO. Angelika has over 20 years experience in CFO and technical roles with small businesses. Jimmy Mains PhD. Jimmy has 8 years experience with large-scale insect production and field trials. He leads the insect production team. Megha Kalsi PhD. Megha leads the Farm Bill project. Mary Wallace PhD. Mary is a project leader for Lepidext. Michael Anderson. Andy is a 5 yr member of the production team and a 10 yr veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Alex Adkins. Alex is a 3 yr member the production team. Aslyn Blevins. Aslyn is a 1 yr member of the production team.
Early Adopters & Customer Acquisition –Lepidext will initially sell InsterusHz directly to progressive farmers in the US through existing relationship with growers, consultants and grower organizations. Funded collaborations exist with such organizations, notably, AgLaunch and its farmer network, Ag Ventures Alliance, the Colorado Sweet Corn Grower’s Association and the USDA Forest Pest Management Lab. These relationships provide access to growers and an agency responsible for responding to CEW and OWB outbreaks. These existing relationships are integral to plans to enlist growers for beta testing and early adoption to help vet the product, push the brand, and expand our customer base. CEW and OWB control is complex and varies by region and crop. Existing, funded projects enable us to target and develop high-need beachhead markets such as seed corn in Hawaii, field corn and soybeans in Iowa, sweet corn in Colorado and cotton in Western Tennessee. A major growth opportunity is to control resistance to BT-toxin expressed in crops. Specifically, BT-resistance CEW and OWB and hybrids thereof. InsterusHz’s total addressable market (TAM calculated using a bottom-up approach) is co-located at the geographical intersections of BT-cotton, BT-corn and BT-soybean producing regions globally that are affected by CEW and OWB. Based on our product and market analyses, Lepidext’s InsterusHz can be commercialized for resistance management over an area of 400M acres at a price competitive with synthetic chemical treatments ($20 to $30 /acre/treatment x 1-3 treatments per season). Our initial market target is the US BT-cotton/BT-corn producing regions (the US “Cotton Belt”).
Lepidext will follow the B2B Business Model adopted for most of the macro-biological control agents offered by companies such as Bioline, AgBitech and MarroneBio. We will initially sell InsterusHz directly to US cotton and corn farmers and to seed companies in Hawaii. We will target progressive growers as early adopters in the US Cotton Belt and West-central Iowa where we have existing relationships and have carried field trials. As we secure contracts and market channels, we expect to work with associations of growers and cooperatives of private crop consultants to facilitate customer acquisition. The consultants are interested in the technology and are known to farmers which will help to recruit customers and push the brand. A major milestone will be reached at 50 to 100 thousand acres under contract, which is anticipated by 2027. At this point we will have established contractual arrangements with major distributors, partnerships to rear and ship the InsterusHz product our insects. This will provide a clear path to further customer acquisition and market expansion. Our anticipated initial price point for InsterusHz as a preventative application would be equivalent to a single application of synthetic chemical insecticide to treat H. zea, priced in 2021 at $25/acre per treatment. If applied as a pest treatment (i.e. when CEW populations are known to be large enough to cause damage) will be significantly higher, up to $250 for a complete treatment program).
"Lepidext is raising Series A funding to support launch of our lead preventative product InsterusHz and build a product portfolio that includes an application model enabling treatment of pest infestations (rather than prevention) and a second preventative product featuring enhanced storage, delivery and application. The treatment product applies InsterusHz at a higher rate timed for immediate crop protection. This is costly requiring more product but enables active treatment of infestations. The second line of preventative product is a spin-off of InsterusHz but requires product development. The round will open in May 2025 and we are currently seeking one or two lead investors to help define investment terms. Current plans are to open the round in May 2025 with a reception hosted by a venture studio in Lexington, KY. Plans are to close the round In October. The priorities for use of funds are: 1. Build the sales and marketing team 2. On farm beta treatments and customer support with InsterusHz 3. Expand the field research team to support large scale trials and beta testing 4. New application mode development and testing 5. New product line development and testing The pitch is that Lepidext has done the technical and regulatory work required for product launch and identified beachead markets and beta testers. The ask is for 4 M in funding to build the business side of the company, notably sales and marketing teams and leadership, and that we need to do it now."
"Lepidext has: - Developed and patented a new active ingredient InsterusHz for controlling the corn earworm and old world bollworm in the US, India, China and a patent award is pending in Brazil. These 4 countries represent 90% of the global market for our technology. - Validated the efficacy of the active ingredient in the lab, in field trials, with regulators and farmers - Applied to the Environmental Protection Agency for registration of this new active ingredient. Lepidext has been engaged with the Environmental Protection Agency since 2020. There has been consideration of the technology and its regulatory path. Multiple steps in the process have been completed. These include testing of the active ingredient for toxicity to human and animal cells, non-target arthropods and pollinators which have shown no negative or unexpected adverse results. The EPA has allowed release and testing of the product in open field trials. A final action and regulatory decision has been indicated by the agency for July 25, 2025 - Been awarded 17 grants from federal and state agencies after competitive evaluation and review of Lepidext proposals by independent reviewers - Developed production systems for the active ingredient that supported laboratory and field trials In summary, the technology has been conceived, patented, tested in the lab and in the field with positive results. Production of the product has scaled and distribution methods tested and validated. While refinements to production, product development and field validations will continue, there are no technical barriers to commercialization of InsterusHz."
"Lepidext has: - Developed and patented a new active ingredient InsterusHz for controlling the corn earworm and old world bollworm in the US, India, China and a patent award is pending in Brazil. These 4 countries represent 90% of the global market for our technology. - Validated the efficacy of the active ingredient in the lab, in field trials, with regulators and farmers - Applied to the Environmental Protection Agency for registration of this new active ingredient. Lepidext has been engaged with the Environmental Protection Agency since 2020. There has been consideration of the technology and its regulatory path. Multiple steps in the process have been completed. These include testing of the active ingredient for toxicity to human and animal cells, non-target arthropods and pollinators which have shown no negative or unexpected adverse results. The EPA has allowed release and testing of the product in open field trials. A final action and regulatory decision has been indicated by the agency for July 25, 2025 - Been awarded 17 grants from federal and state agencies after competitive evaluation and review of Lepidext proposals by independent reviewers - Developed production systems for the active ingredient that supported laboratory and field trials In summary, the technology has been conceived, patented, tested in the lab and in the field with positive results. Production of the product has scaled and distribution methods tested and validated. "
