SBM COMPANY TAKES THE LEAD IN THE COLLABORATIVE PROJECT GIN BIONIC SUPPORTED BY FRANCE 2030

 Ecully, October 25, 2022. GIN BIONIC, a collaborative project led by SBM Company, Greenpharma and laboratory iEES Paris, receives a funding of 2.9 million euros within the framework of France 2030. Operated on behalf of the State by Bpifrance, the project will develop reverse genetics tools to find biocontrol products against crop pests. 

 Biocontrol products use natural mechanisms such as macro-organisms, micro-organisms, natural substances, or pheromones to protect crops. They have been identified in the French Ecophyto II+ plan and in the European Farm to Fork Strategy as levers to reduce the use of conventional products. However, biocontrol solutions for certain crops are currently underdeveloped, causing heavy yield losses. 

In this context, the GIN BIONIC project aims to: 

• deploy a tool that combines reverse genetics and molecular modeling to accelerate the search for natural insecticide molecules; and 
• develop and market biocontrol products based on these molecules to fight against two major pests of field crops. 

The project started in March 2022 and will last five years. It mobilizes the skills of three partners, including SBM Company (project leader), Greenpharma (SME) and the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (public laboratory of Sorbonne University). They bring expertise from basic research to the distribution of plant protection products. 

With a budget of €5.7 million, this innovative project received a funding of €2.9 million within the framework of France 2030. It is operated on behalf of the State by Bpifrance, alongside other projects in various sectors (health, energy, automobile sector, aeronautics and space). The GIN BIONIC project is also supported by the Biocontrol Consortium and accredited by the Innov’Alliance network. 

ABOUT THE PROJECT PARTNERS

SBM Company, with nearly 1000 employees, is a family-owned industrial group of French origin, created in 1994 and present in more than 31 countries throughout Europe and North America. SBM Company designs, homologates, produces, and markets products to care for and protect crops, gardens, and homes.

Recognized for its expertise in agricultural and consumer markets, SBM masters its entire value chain, from R&D to the consumer products. Innovation is at the heart of the group’s strategy to constantly adapt to market changes.

The group is positioned in four areas of activity:

• agricultural crop protection, through the commercial entity CMPA
• industrial production, with six plants (five in France and one in the United States)
• aromatherapy, under the LCA brands
• Garden & Home, the group’s main activity, with its subsidiaries SBM Life Science in Europe and the United States and the subsidiaries SPG and Or Brun in France.

For more information: https://sbm-company.com/

 

Greenpharma is a French SME created in 2000, active in life science chemistry. It offers Research & Development solutions and a range of customized products and services. Its core business focuses on natural substances and relies on a multidisciplinary technical platform to accelerate the discovery of active molecules for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries. Greenpharma’s internal platform is divided into five complementary areas:

• analytics with LC/MS, analytical and preparative HPLC tools, GAINS
• extraction at the laboratory stage (ASE system) and the industrial pilot stage (liquid extraction tanks, supercritical CO2, subcritical water)
• Chemoinformatics (ethnopharmacological database (GPDB) for research, Selnergy virtual screening tool, QSAR)
• chemical synthesis and biosynthesis
• Cosmetic formulation (gels, creams, lotions).

 

L’Institut d’Ecologie et des Sciences de l’Environnement de Paris (iEES Paris) is a joint research unit that brings together more than 200 people, including 143 researchers, teacher-researchers, engineers, and technicians. It comprises 13 research teams divided into five scientific departments and an administrative pole (12 people). This unit operates across multiple sites (four sites in mainland France) and multiple campuses (Sorbonne University, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, UPEC and University of Paris). 

iEES Paris analyzes and models ecological and environmental systems’ organization, functioning and evolution. It has a wide range of expertise in: 

• community and ecosystem ecology, microbial and social ecology, evolutionary ecology 
• population dynamics and biodiversity studies 
• studies of the processes of adaptation to the environment and mechanisms of communication 
• biocontrol research
• soil and water sciences.