Public Funding for Solasta Bio Limited

SOLASTA Bio provides a disruptive solution for the global problem of destruction of food crops by insect pests, where current conventional insecticides are beset with sustainability and environmental problems. Our peptide (small protein)-based insecticides target a unique feature of insect physiology to provide safe, effective insect pest control for food crops. These new bioinsecticides do not harm beneficial insect species and if successful in the market, will replace current synthetic chemicals, increasing stewardship of the environment and end-consumer health. Our innovative, targeted discovery platform does away with the costly, inefficient and time-consuming random screening of large libraries of compounds which consumes up to three years in a traditional discovery program, with the added advantage of built-in safety to beneficials; and speed and agility for new pest targets. In this 18-month Series A project addressing Net Zero, we bring together new innovations across the life sciences and chemistry together with R&D and commercial team growth to: * pivot our discovery platform to new targets and markets; * increase in-house capacity for peptide synthesis, formulations and reduced-carbon peptide synthesis routes; * evaluate candidate efficacy and toxicity in-house and externally, for new markets. We will also: * deliver a carbon audit/roadmap for the business; * establish regulatory roadmaps.