BASEL, Switzerland & CHASSIEU, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 18, 2025--
Amoebas. These single-celled microorganisms are now at the heart of one of agriculture’s latest biological innovation – a bio-fungicide capable of protecting wheat and other cereal crops from crippling fungal diseases that cost global agriculture billions of dollars in annual crop losses and quality.
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This new development, made from the lysate of the amoeba Willaertia magna C2c Maky, holds strong potential to advance biological crop protection. In trials, the candidate demonstrated its effectiveness in combating the fungi responsible for these fungal diseases and helped activate the plants' defence responses. As a next‑generation biological, it is built on a biological active substance and designed to fit modern integrated crop management.
Syngenta Crop Protection, a global leader in biologicals and other innovative crop protection technologies, and French greentech innovator Amoéba SA, have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop and commercialize groundbreaking biocontrol solutions for the EU and UK markets, focusing on cereals and field crops. The parties plan to negotiate a definitive distribution agreement with a target timeline of spring 2026. This strategic collaboration aims to offer farmers advanced biological solutions that enhance the sustainability of their farming practices, address the challenge of increasing pest resistance to existing products, and offer relief to farmers facing a shrinking toolbox of crop protection technologies.
The initial focus of the partnership will be on combating the main wheat diseases, namely septoria tritici blotch (STB) and yellow rust. These two diseases are among the most economically damaging wheat diseases across Europe and the UK, impacting an estimated 9-12 million hectares of wheat annually. In Germany alone, STB causes yield losses of 5-50% and costs of €1.5 billion annually, while yellow rust can reduce yields by 10-70% and even lead to total crop failure in susceptible varieties, according to recognized industry and academic sources.
Matthew Pickard, Syngenta’s Head of Seedcare and Biologicals for Europe, said: “At Syngenta, we are committed to deliver advanced, effective biological solutions at the cutting edge of science. We’re proud to work with Amoéba to offer nature-inspired solutions that empower farmers in these important markets.”
“We are very pleased with the collaboration with Syngenta, a global leader in agricultural innovation,” affirms Benoit Villers,Chairman of the Board of Amoéba and Jean-François Doucet, CEO of Amoéba. "This agreement, which should lead to distribution and development partnerships between our two companies, is a major step forward for Amoéba. It gives us the opportunity to combine our scientific expertise with Syngenta's widely recognised leadership in cereal protection and the marketing of biocontrol solutions. Finally, it perfectly illustrates how collaboration between innovators in the sector can make a difference for farmers while paving the way for broader applications in field crops."
Founded in 2010, Amoéba has developed a patented biocontrol application based on lysate from the amoeba Willaertia magna, which received the prestigious Bernard Blum Gold Medal in October 2025 as the most promising biocontrol solution worldwide. In June 2025, the active substance received EU approval following EFSA’s scientific assessment and a European Commission decision. Product‑specific authorizations are in progress.
About Syngenta
Syngenta is a global leader in agricultural innovation with a presence in more than 90 countries. Syngenta is focused on developing technologies and farming practices that empower farmers, so they can make the transformation required to feed the world’s population while preserving our planet. Its bold scientific discoveries deliver better benefits for farmers and society on a bigger scale than ever before. Guided by its Sustainability Priorities, Syngenta is developing new technologies and solutions that support farmers to grow healthier plants in healthier soil with a higher yield. Syngenta Crop Protection is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland; Syngenta Seeds is headquartered in the United States. Read our stories and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram & X.
About Amoéba
Founded in 2010, Amoéba is a greentech company based in Chassieu (Lyon, France) whose ambition is to become a major player in the treatment of microbiological risk based on the patented use of amoebae in the plant protection and cosmetics sectors.
With know-how that is unique in the world and protected by numerous patents, Amoéba is currently the only company capable of exploiting the full potential of the Willaertia amoeba on an industrial scale and cultivating it in sufficient volumes to offer biological solutions that constitute a viable alternative to the chemical products widely used today. Amoéba is currently focusing on the global biocontrol market for plant protection and on the cosmetics market. As the marketing of plant protection products is subject to obtaining local regulatory authorisations, the Company has carried out the necessary regulatory procedures and filed registration dossiers in Europe and the United States. The active substance has obtained approval in 2022 in the USA and in 2025 in Europe. Product approvals have been granted in the USA and are expected in the coming months in Europe.
The cosmetic application does not require prior approval from a competent authority in Europe or the United States. The cosmetic ingredient is already registered on the INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) list, paving the way for it to be marketed worldwide except in China, where local approval is required.
Amoéba is listed on Euronext Growth (ALMIB). The company is a member of the Bpifrance Excellence network and is eligible for the PEA-PME scheme.
For more information, visit www.amoeba-nature.com
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Syngenta’s Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as ‘expect’, ‘would’, ‘will’, ‘potential’, ‘plans’, ‘prospects’, ‘estimated’, ‘aiming’, ‘on track’ and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.
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Syngenta and Amoeba SA to develop and commercialize biocontrol solutions for EU and UK
NEW YORK (AP) — Two men who brought explosives to a far-right protest outside New York City's mayoral mansion said they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, according to a court complaint.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were being held without bail after a court appearance Monday on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. Their lawyers didn't argue for bail but could do so later.
The homemade devices, which did not explode, were hurled Saturday during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office.
“Balat and Kayumi sought to incite fear and mass suffering through this alleged attempted terror attack in the backyard of an elected city official,” James Barnacle, who runs the FBI's New York office, said at a news conference after the brief court session.
The defendants said nothing in court, but Kayumi smirked and looked over at Balat as the judge read part of the complaint alleging they acted in support of the Islamic State group. Balat stared ahead at the defense table.
According to the complaint, Kayumi blurted out, as he was being arrested Saturday, that “ISIS” was the reason for his conduct. Balat later told authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the extremists, and Kayumi asserted that he was affiliated with the group, the complaint said.
Officers asked Balat whether he was aiming to accomplish something akin to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded hundreds more.
“No, even bigger,” Balat replied, according to the complaint.
Emir Balat’s lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, said outside court that his client is a Philadelphia-area high school senior with “complicated stuff going on” in his personal life. “There’s a lot to figure out,” the attorney added.
Asked whether he believed Balat was a terrorist, the lawyer said: “I believe he’s 18 and he doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing.”
Kayumi’s lawyer, Michael Arthus, pointed in court to the extensive publicity surrounding the case and asked that prosecutors avoid saying anything that could prejudice potential jurors.
No one answered the door at a home listed as belonging to one of Kayumi's relatives in Newtown, Pennsylvania. At a home where neighbors said Balat lives in nearby Langhorne, a young man declined to comment when a reporter knocked on the door.
The FBI said Monday it has conducted multiple searches in connection with the investigation, including of a Pennsylvania storage unit.
A spokesperson for Neshaminy High School, located in Langhorne, confirmed that Balat is in his senior year there. He has not attended in-person classes since enrolling in the district’s virtual program this past September, according to a note sent to parents Monday by the district's superintendent.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said neither defendant had a criminal history. Essmidi said he didn’t believe the two young men had known each other for long.
“They are not known to each other. They do not live together. They did not have friendly, family or school ties,” Essmidi said. "There is no reason to believe they knew each other prior to this incident, and I don’t know how well they knew each other at the time of this incident.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on social media that authorities “will not allow ISIS’s poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation.”
Tisch said there are no indications that the attack was connected to the ongoing war in Iran.
An automated license plate reader captured the defendants entering New York City from New Jersey less than an hour before the noontime attack, according to the complaint. Kayumi's mother filed a missing person report, saying she last saw him around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The men's vehicle — registered to one of Balat’s relatives — was discovered Sunday, a few blocks from where they were arrested. A search of the car turned up a fuse, a metal can, and a list of chemical ingredients and components that could be used to build explosives, the complaint said.
Lang's sparsely attended protest Saturday drew a far larger group of counterdemonstrators. Amid the faceoff, Balat tossed a jar-sized device that contained the explosive TATP into the crowd, the complaint said. The object also contained a fuse, plus an exterior layer of duct-taped nuts and bolts, the complaint said.
The device extinguished itself steps from police officers. According to the complaint, Balat then ran down the block and collected a second, similar device — which has yet to be tested for explosives — from Kayumi. Balat dropped it near some police officers and tried to run away, the complaint said. Police tackled Balat and soon arrested him and Kayumi.
“Violence that is meant to chill free speech, violence that is meant to keep us from assembling peaceably, will be met with swift justice,” Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at a news conference Monday.
The scene had grown chaotic even before the devices were thrown. Police said one person involved in the anti-Islam demonstration, Ian McGinnis, 21, was arrested after he pepper-sprayed counterprotesters.
McGinnis, of Philadelphia, was released without bond after pleading not guilty Sunday to assault and aggravated harassment in a New York court, records show. His attorney, Steven Metcalf, said Monday that McGinnis was defending himself from counterprotesters.
Three others were arrested but released without charge.
Lang, who's running for U.S. Senate in Florida, was charged with assaulting an officer and other offenses during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He was later freed from prison as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping act of clemency.
While Mamdani spoke to reporters Monday morning at the mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, Lang heckled from outside the gates.
This story has been corrected to reflect that police are now identifying one of the suspects by the name Ibrahim Kayumi, instead of Ibrahim Nikks. Earlier headlines were corrected to show Tisch referred to the possibility of the suspects being inspired by rather than related to the Islamic State group.
Associated Press writers Michael Catalini in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
Police detain Emir Balat after he attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device during a counterprotest against far right influencer Jake Lang staging an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julius Constantine Motal)
Police detain Emir Balat after he attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device during a counterprotest against far right influencer Jake Lang staging an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julius Constantine Motal)
Police detain Emir Balat after he attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device during a counterprotest against far right influencer Jake Lang staging an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, Saturday, March 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julius Constantine Motal)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference at Gracie Mansion, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, left, walks out of Gracie Mansion with New York Police commissioner Jessica Tisch, second from left, to make an address at a news conference, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
New York Police commissioner Jessica Tisch speaks during a news conference with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
Jake Lang demonstrates outside Gracie Mansion after a news conference by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani , Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
In this image taken from video, law enforcement officers respond to Manhattan's Upper East Side as New York City's police said they had identified a "suspicious device in a vehicle,” Sunday, March 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Joseph B. Frederick)
Jake Lang shouts from a sidewalk as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a news conference at Gracie Mansion, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
New York Police commissioner Jessica Tisch speaks during a news conference with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion, Monday, March 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
