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FDA Publishes Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact FONSI on Oxitec’s Self-limiting Mosquito

Oxford, UK, 11 March 2016 - The US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM) today released in the Federal Register a preliminary finding of no significant impact (FONSI) on Oxitec’s self-limiting OX513A Aedes aegypti mosquito for an investigational trial in the Florida Keys. The finding agrees with the draft environmental assessment (EA) submitted by Oxitec, Ltd., that concludes a field trial of the Company’s genetically engineered (GE) OX513A mosquitoes in Key Haven, Florida, will not result in a significant impact on the environment. This follows an FDA-led evaluation of potential impacts on health and the environment of the proposed trial.

Oxitec’s Chief Executive Officer Hadyn Parry said, “We are pleased that the FDA-led team has released this preliminary FONSI. The Aedes aegypti mosquito represents a significant threat to human health, and in many countries has been spreading Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses. This mosquito is non-native to the US and difficult to control, with the best available methods only able to reduce the population by up to 50%, which is simply not enough. We look forward to this proposed trial and the potential to protect people from Aedes aegypti and the diseases it spreads.”

The purpose of the proposed trial is to determine the efficacy of Oxitec’s self-limiting mosquitoes for the control of the local population of Aedes aegypti in Key Haven, Monroe County, Florida.

Aedes aegypti mosquito= Moustique tigre responsable de la diffusion du virus Zika, de la dengue et du chikungunya . La seule façon de réduire la population est la mise au point d’un moustique génétiquement modifié non susceptible de se reproduire. Ainsi les progrès de cette discipline sont désormais évidents et on ne peut que regretter que notre recherche franco-française en soit absente. En effet notre charançon est bien le prototype d’un insecte extrêmement difficile à détruire et qu’ainsi la démarche la plus logique est de ralentir puis stopper sa reproduction.

Rappelons une fois de plus que cette société en mars 2012 nous avait proposé cette démarche pour le charançon rouge avec un budget inférieur à 1 million d’euros. Combien le charançon nous a-t-il coûté depuis ?