Benzinga | Sep 30, 2020 09:03AM EDT

SenesTech Maps Out Plan For Increased Use Of ContraPest In Integrated Pest Management In California

PHOENIX, Sept. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SenesTech, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNES), a developer of proprietary technologies for managing animal pest populations through fertility control, today confirmed that California's AB1788 has been signed by Gavin Newsom, California's Governor and will become law January 1, 2021. The California Ecosystems Protection Act of 2020 (the Bill) will prohibit the use of the four major Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) commonly used in rodent pest control under many circumstances. SenesTech's ContraPest, an alternative and complementary non-lethal approach to managing rodents through fertility control, has been proven in the field to be an effective and sustainable component of integrated pest management (IPM), and may be increasingly used to replace the SGARs.

While the Bill is intended to address the vulnerability of wildlife to the lethality and environmental persistence of these SGARs used for rodent control, it also creates a challenge to pest management professionals (PMPs) who incorporate SGARs in their integrated pest management (IPM) programs. Absent the use of these SGARs, pest management will have to rely on other lethal and non-lethal tools, such as ContraPest's fertility control. In testimony previously, it was estimated that the current use of rodenticides, these SGARs being a large share, in the state was worth approximately $100 million of product per year.

"ContraPest(r) can help fill the gap in integrated pest management (IPM). In extensive field studies, ContraPest has been shown to reduce rodent populations 60% to 90% beyond conventional means alone. As PMPs adapt their protocols and practices to the Bill, we will work with PMPs to best incorporate ContraPest as they eliminate or limit the use of the now-prohibited SGARs," said Kenneth Siegel, SenesTech's CEO. "We believe that the PMPs will also see that ContraPest can be economically and practically beneficial to their entire practice, not just that affected by the Bill."

"We have been building, and are now launching, a multi-pronged initiative to drive adoption of ContraPest in California," added Dr. Steven Krause, SenesTech's EVP of Sales and Marketing. "One, we plan to engage with the PMP industryon how ContraPest can be beneficial to their pest management business, as they adapt to the removal of SGARs in many circumstances. Two, we plan to increase our market awareness campaigns to the broader residential consumer, commercial and agribusiness customer bases. The passing of AB1788 represents a tectonic shift in the industry, and while the magnitude impact on industry practices and product deployments is unknown today, it is certain to bring more opportunities for proven, non-lethal tools such as ContraPest."