Is nootkatone the next big thing in pest control? Swiss firm Evolva says it has finalized negotiations for a contract with the US government to advance the development of safe, effective, and sustainably-sourced next-generation products that can provide a new form of protection against select mosquito-borne diseases like Zika.


Evolva has been working in close collaboration with the CDC on the use of nootkatone against a wide variety of biting pests, such as mosquitoes and ticks that can cause disease. The goal is that nootkatone can one day be used not just against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika virus, but also for the benefit of global public health against other important biting pests, such as Ixodes tick vectors of Lyme disease and the mosquitoes that spread West Nile and other viruses.


Nootkatone can be extracted in minute quantities from the skin of grapefruit or the bark of the Alaska yellow cedar (also known as the Nootka cypress), or produced in a sustainable, industrial scale process via yeast fermentation that provides a reliable, safe supply.


This CDC-funded contract is worth $8.35 million to Evolva, will run for 18 months, and will begin immediately.