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Synvect is a biotech company focused on developing innovative genetic solutions for mosquito population control, addressing the growing global threat of mosquito-borne diseases.
The global mosquito population, along with the diseases they carry, is silently surging. While many in developed countries view mosquitoes as an inconvenience or those “pesky summer camp bugs,” mosquito-borne diseases remain a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Mosquito populations are growing at unprecedented rates by 100M annually, leading to over 700M+ reported cases of mosquito-borne diseases each year and 1M+ deaths as a result. Statisticians estimate mosquitoes have been responsible for nearly 50% of all human deaths. Historically, people have controlled mosquito populations in several ways to reduce the diseases they spread. They drained swamps and wetlands where mosquitoes lay their eggs, which helped get rid of their breeding grounds. Draining water works because mosquitoes need standing water to reproduce, but this method is hard to do in cities or areas with lots of rain. Insecticides were helpful at first, but mosquitoes have developed resistance over time, making these chemicals less effective. Insecticides can harm other animals and the environment, and they sometimes stay in ecosystems for a long time, causing more problems. Other methods, like using bed nets, vaccines, or releasing sterile mosquitoes, can help, but they have their challenges, like being expensive, hard to use, or only working in certain situations.
The best way to stop diseases spread by mosquitoes is to break the cycle by reducing the mosquito population. One effective method is the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which involves releasing male mosquitoes that have been sterilized and cannot produce offspring. These males do not bite, and when they mate with wild female mosquitoes, the females either produce eggs that don’t hatch or have no eggs at all. Since female mosquitoes only mate once in their lifetime, this stops them from having any more offspring permanently. SIT has been successfully used to control other insect species since the 1950s, but it requires mosquito sex sorting, which is complex and resource-intensive, expensive adult deployment, and low suppression efficacy in certain environments. Until Synvect, no solution has offset the challenges of using SIT.
Synvect combines the safety of SIT technology with the precision and efficacy of CRISPR gene knockout in fertilized mosquito eggs to help stop the spread of diseases and control populations.
In the laboratory, two genetically modified mosquito strains - each carrying components of the CRISPR system - are crossed to produce eggs that, upon activation, develop into sterile, non-biting males. These eggs are packaged with nutrients into a suppression box, which can be stored and shipped globally. When water is added to the box at the deployment site, the eggs hatch and only sterile males emerge into the environment. Since female mosquitoes mate only once, mating with these sterile males results in no offspring, reducing the wild mosquito population over time and leaving no risk of maintaining a bio-altered species in the wild.
The market opportunity for Synvect is vast and rapidly expanding, driven by the increasing global threat of mosquito-borne diseases and the urgent need for more effective, scalable solutions. The global insect vector control market is currently valued at $70B, with approximately $40B spent by the public sector and the remaining $30B from the private sector. In the United States alone, consumer spending on mosquito repellents is around $5B annually, reflecting the substantial public demand for mosquito control solutions.
State governments are also spending big, like Florida, where mosquito (Aedes aegypti) populations have surged. Even though Aedes aegypti is only 1% of its mosquito population, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control alone typically budgets more than $1M a year, a full tenth of its total funding, to fight it. As a state, Florida allocates approximately $160M per year solely for mosquito control. On a global scale, countries like Brazil are investing heavily in mosquito suppression, with annual expenditures surpassing $1B to control the spread of diseases like dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.
It’s rare to encounter founders who have devoted their personal and professional lives to solving a critical problem. Dr. Nikolay Kandul and Dr. Omar Akbari are the company's founders, having spent their entire scientific careers advancing research in mosquito genetics. Obsessed is an understatement. They are joined by Pooja Patel, an accomplished epidemiologist and biotech go-to-market leader with two degrees from Columbia University and a proven track record at Pfizer and venture-backed startups. Synvects expert team is further guided by the founder and former CEO of one of their biggest competitors (Oxitec, Dr. Luke Alvey).
Mosquito populations are growing at unprecedented rates, fueled by climate change, the expanding range of invasive species, and the increasing resistance to chemical solutions. As these threats intensify, local and regional governments are willing to spend to address their mosquito challenges effectively.
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