Trends in insecticide discovery: A review, analysis and perspective

There is a continuing interest in the discovery and development of new insecticides to control insect and mite pests of crops and insect vectors of disease. This interest is fueled by the loss of current insecticide and acaricide options due to the development of resistance, the need for pest control options with improved environmental and toxicological profiles, and the impact of climate change on pest spectrums and agricultural practices. Since the 1950s there has been substantial consolidation among the R&D-based companies in Japan and especially the US and Europe driven, in part, by the increasing time and costs associated with the need to meet ever more stringent consumer and regulatory expectations. Herein an analysis was conducted of the time required from the idea or initiation of a project to when the molecule that later becomes a commercial insect control agent is first discovered, or more correctly built. The data shows that 70 % of the projects required two-five years while 19 % required six-eight years. The average across all cases was approximately four years. This time requirement is nearly the same regardless of the approach used (competitor inspired, next generation, bioactive hypothesis or natural product-based), or whether the company or institute involved was in Japan, Europe or the US. However, the present analysis also suggests that there is a general trend for newer molecules to take longer. Thus in addition to developmental times getting longer, the time needed to initially discover / build the future product is trending towards longer timelines now approaching five years.