Friendly™ Aedes Program

Oxitec is applying our Friendly™ technology against the Aedes aegypti, an invasive mosquito now found in tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions across the globe, and against Aedes albopictus, which originates in Southeast Asia but over recent decades has relentlessly spread around the world.

Unfortunately, existing methods of controlling Aedes aegypti, such as spraying or fogging using chemical insecticides, have failed to stop the spread of disease. This is partly because Aedes aegypti has developed resistance to insecticides, rendering many common chemicals ineffective at killing the mosquito.  

According to the World Health Organisation, 100-400 million people each year suffer from dengue, a debilitating and sometimes fatal disease also known as ‘break-bone fever’. Billions of people living in 127 countries live at risk of dengue infection. The Oxitec Friendly™ Aedes program provides targeted, safe and non-toxic method for the control of insect pests that spread diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever, delivering up to 96% suppression of wild Aedes aegypti populations compared to a control site in its first pilot project.

Read the full peer-reviewed paper in Frontiers in Bioengineering detailing the efficacy of Friendly™ Aedes aegypti here.

Brazil

We have been deploying our self-limiting Friendly™ Aedes solution in Brazil since 2011, and successfully completed the first field deployment of Oxitec’s next-generation Friendly™ Aedes aegypti in 2019 in the city of Indaiatuba, São Paulo state. 

On 3 November 2021 we announced the landmark targeted commercial launch of our Friendly™ Aedes aegypti solution in São Paulo state, where the first-ever just-add-water mosquito boxes were made available for purchase by households, businesses and municipalities to help control the invasive Aedes aegypti. 

Our Friendly™ Aedes aegypti is now being manufactured and distributed by more than 20 professional distribution partners, and is serving cities, large-scale employers, public spaces, transport hubs, schools, and a range of other end-users across the country.

Learn more about Friendly™ Aedes aegypti in Brazil, locally known as Aedes do Bem™, here.

Florida  

On 18 August 2020 the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) Board of Commissioners approved the FKMCD-Oxitec Investigational Agreement for the release of Oxitec’s Friendly™ Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.  

Three pilot seasons have concluded, and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) and Oxitec have together demonstrated that Oxitec non-biting, male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes perform well in the field, can reduce the local abundance of the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito, and have enabled the optimization of just-add-water egg release devices. Oxitec is now working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to seek full commercial approval.

Find out more about our work in Florida and follow our Public Educational Webinar series.