NootkaShield™ nootkatone: Exploring a new approach for protection against insects

Do you remember your grandmother’s cedar chest where she stored delicate items and woolen clothes to protect them from moths and other insects? Plants produce natural compounds to protect themselves from insects and disease. Nootkatone is one of these protective compounds from nature, found in the bark of Alaskan Yellow Cedar trees (Cupressus nootkatensis¹) and in grapefruit skin. Nootkatone can be extracted from these natural resources and has a fresh scent.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has demonstrated that nootkatone is a highly effective agent against the ticks that transmit Lyme disease and a variety of other insects including nuisance pests².

Obtaining nootkatone from nature is cost prohibitive and not sustainable. However, Evolva is now capable of producing NootkaShield™ nootkatone, a 98% pure nature-identical nootkatone via a more sustainable route when compared to extraction from natural sources. NootkaShield™ production combines Evolva’s innovative yeast fermentation process with a proprietary conversion technique. CDC research has determined that nootkatone is effective at repelling and controlling a range of insect pests including ticks, mosquitoes, and other nuisance insects².

References:
1. Also known as Callitropsis nootkatensis.
2. Panella NA, Dolan MC, Karchesy JJ, Xiong Y, Peralta-Cruz J, Khasawneh M, Montenieri JA, Maupin GO, Use of novel compounds for pest control: insecticidal and acaricidal activity of essential oil components from heartwood of Alaska yellow cedar. J Med Entomol. 2005 May;42(3):352-8

Consumers are increasingly looking for safe and familiar ingredients in the products that they purchase. Evolva is uniquely positioned to deliver high quality nootkatone, for the pest control industry at a commercial scale. At this time, samples of NootkaShield™ nootkatone are available for research, product development, testing and potential registration.

Evolva is committed to delivering the highest quality, premium NootkaShield™ nootkatone.

• Evolva invests heavily in understanding the science of nootkatone, its applications and increasing adoption to improve the health and wellness of individuals and animals
• Evolva is the recipient of a CDC funded grant to develop NootkaShield based end-user products against select mosquito-borne diseases like Zika. This award has been funded in whole with Federal funds from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, and managed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under Contract No. HHSO100201700015C.
• Our team of scientists are continuously innovating, researching and testing to provide optimal NootkaShield™-based formulations that deliver positive effective pest control

Evolva is actively pursuing commercial development with all major industries involved in the personal protection against biting insects and ticks, in order to deliver to consumers the benefit of NootkaShield™ nootkatone. All finished products containing NootkaShield™ nootkatone as an active ingredient require EPA approval.

For any request regarding the commercial aspects of NootkaShield™ please contact Giovanni Salerno.