Product Effectiveness
Introduction
TyraTech uses a standard set of tests to determine the effectiveness of a new product, including speed of knock down and kill, residual activity, fogging test, fumigation test and repellency tests. These tests are done by TyraTech or a partner.
The Company has identified prototype blends created using the TyraTech platform to be highly efficacious. Results include the following:
- a crawling insect formulation that achieves 100 % mortality in under 30 seconds;
- a formulation that produces 100 % immediate dust mite kill, with good residual activity for one week;
- a formulation that produces 100 % bed bug mortality in under two hours;
- a formulation that produces 100 % mosquito larvacide kill in under one hour;
- a formulation that produces 100 % kill rate for fungus gnats, army worms, aphids, white fly and soil nematodes.
Independent Testing
In addition to the extensive evaluation and testing completed by TyraTech's partners, TyraTech has commissioned testing by independent third parties for both the safety and the efficacy of its blends. These tests include:
- Mosquitoes in vitro and human studies (Public Health, Entomology Research & Education Center, Florida A&M University, Panama City, FL);
- Mosquitoes in vitro studies (ICR, Insect Control and Research, Baltimore, Maryland);
- Termites, cockroaches (Entomology & Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL);
- Fruit flies (Snell Scientifics, GA);
- Dust mites (Insect Control and Research);
- Crawling insects, mosquito repellent and larvacidal activity (Snell Scientifics); and
- Phytotoxicity testing (AllTech Research and Development Inc).
Efficacy
TyraTech has shown the effectiveness of its blends using various industry recognised tests, including speed of knockdown and kill, residual activity, fogging test, fumigation test and repellency tests. These tests have been conducted by TyraTech, its partners or independent test laboratories. In laboratory controlled testing under identical test conditions performed by TyraTech and its partners, the TyraTech Natural blends were substantially more effective than any single natural pesticidal compound, and were generally as effective, and in some cases more effective, than commonly used synthetic pesticide compounds.
The table below summarises example results obtained by TyraTech, where the Company's products have been tested in comparison with active ingredients within competitors' synthetic chemical active blends. The results show the broad spectrum, competitive potency of the Company's blends.
Table 2: Example efficacy of selected TyraTech Natural blends compared with competing chemicals
| Results | ||||
| Target insect | Competitor chemical | Test measure | TyraTech | Chemical |
| German cockroaches |
Imiprothrin | Speed of kill | 26 seconds | 48 seconds |
| Ants | Imiprothrin | Speed of kill | 27 seconds | 41 seconds |
| Dust mites | Acarosan | Kill after 1 week | 90% | 7% |
| Mosquito repellent | 5% DEET | 6 hour repellence | 88% | 62% |
| Fungus gnat | S-Kinoprene | Dead at 3 days | 100% | 17% |
| Aphid | Pymetrozine | Dead at 1 day | 97% | 5% |
| White fly | Pyriproxyfen | Dead at 1 day | 173 dead | 12 dead |
Crawling Insect Testing
TyraTech has tested over 100 different formulations, following a strategy of testing model insect species (German cockroaches and Argentine ants), testing to endpoints of time to knockdown and kill, and measuring residual activity on porous (vinyl) and non-porous (stainless steel) surfaces. The Company has also compared its products with commercially available tests. The tables below summarise the results of such testing.
Table 3: Speed of knockdown and kill in Argentine ants
| Product | Number of experiments (10 insects/ experiment) |
Mean time to knockdown (seconds) |
Mean time to death (seconds) |
| Competitor product 1 | 4 | 11.0 | 49.5 |
| Competitor product 2 | 6 | 10.0 | 41.0 |
| Competitor product 3 | 6 | 7.4 | 22.9 |
| TyraTech formulation 1a | 1 | 0.7 | 18.6 |
| TyraTech formulation 1b | 1 | 0.8 | 33.1 |
| TyraTech formulation 2a | 1 | 10.7 | 35.7 |
| TyraTech formulation 2b | 4 | 8.7 | 30.2 |
| TyraTech formulation 3 | 2 | 8.6 | 69.3 |
Table 4: Speed of knockdown and kill in German cockroaches
| Product | Number of experiments (10 insects/ experiment) |
Mean time to knockdown (seconds) |
Mean time to death (seconds) |
| Competitor product 1 | 4 | 7.8 | 46.1 |
| Competitor product 2 | 3 | 5.8 | 48.0 |
| Competitor product 3 | 2 | 3.4 | 22.1 |
| TyraTech formulation 4a | 1 | 4.4 | 23.9 |
| TyraTech formulation 4b | 1 | 2.7 | 23.2 |
| TyraTech formulation 5a | 3 | 7.2 | 169.5 |
| TyraTech formulation 5b | 3 | 6.4 | 30.4 |
| TyraTech formulation 6 | 4 | 6.1 | 66.8 |
For both Argentine ants and German cockroaches, it can be seen that the various experimental blends have competitive mean times to knockdown and insect death.
Examples of Efficacy for Agricultural Pests
The Company has also conducted tests on agricultural pests, where experimental TyraTech blends have been compared with competitors' currently marketed products. The results are summarised in the table below:
Table 5: Examples of efficacy for agricultural pests
| TyraTech formulation |
Competitor product |
|
| Fungus gnat (efficacy 3 days after administration) | 100% | 17% |
| Aphid (efficacy 3 days after administration) | 90% | 80% |
| White fly (efficacy 3 days after administration) | 74% | 73% |
| Army worm (efficacy 4 days after administration) | 100% | 90% |
| Green peach worm (efficacy 3 days after administration) | 75% | 40% |
| Western flower thrips (efficacy 14 days after administration) | 91% | 94% |
| Cricket (efficacy 1 day after administration) | 100% | 100% |
| Corn root worm beetle (efficacy 2 days after administration) | 100% | No competitor |
| Grasshopper (efficacy 1 day after administration) | 100% | No competitor |
Toxicity
In the US, the EPA specifies standard toxicity testing be undertaken in order that the EPA can ensure appropriate labelling is used to guide end users' use of potentially toxic insecticides. The specified toxicity tests consist of six standard tests and cover doses of the product required to induce:
- acute oral toxicity;
- acute dermal toxicity;
- acute inhalation toxicity;
- eye irritation;
- dermal irritation; and
- skin sensitisation.
These tests are collectively referred to as "six-pack" tests.
These results determine the level of warning labelling, first aid statements and handling/use requirement and restriction (such as the requirement to be a licenced user). The degree of toxicity observed in each test is categorised from I (most toxic) to IV (least toxic). Labelling determined by this result is Category I "Dangerous", Category II "Warning", Category III "Caution" and Category IV "no label required".
The following table shows how three lead TyraTech Natural blends have performed in EPA Acute Toxicity Tests.
Table 6: Test results of selected TyraTech's lead products in EPA Acute Toxicity Tests
| TyraTech Natural Product |
Acute Oral Toxicity |
Acute Dermal Toxicity |
Acute Inhalation Toxicity |
Eye Irritation | Dermal Irritation |
Skin Sensitization |
| Agricultural Insect | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV |
| Crawling Insect Blend | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV |
| Mosquito Vector blend | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV | Category IV |
The acute toxicity testing of essential oil formulations indicate that those TyraTech's product blends which were tested to have an excellent safety profile being mostly Category IV, which requires no safety labelling and users do not need to be licensed. The US EPA mandated product label warnings will reflect the products' toxicity profile and TyraTech believes this will position TyraTech's products favorably in comparison with other products in the market.
In summary, the TyraTech products are highly effective and safety test data to date show TyraTech's product blends have an excellent toxicity profile. The US EPA mandated product label warnings will reflect this toxicity profile and TyraTech believes this will position TyraTech products favorably in comparison with other commercial products. TyraTech Products appear to have significantly decreased toxicity relative to a number of the commonly used synthetic chemistries