UniQuest: Licencing Opportunity for clay-based carrier for stable sprayable RNAi

Opportunity for

• Partners in the field of crop protection, biologicals/RNA innovation, or postharvest protection, who is interested in licensing UQ , a targeted and residue-light delivery system with demonstrated efficacy against insect pests, fungi, and plant viruses.

Opportunity description

Industry challenge

Sprayable RNA-interference crop protection products are based on fragile payloads, such as double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), that are susceptible to environmental degradation by UV and nucleases. There is a need for delivery systems that protect these payloads. Many alternative nanocarriers - such as carbon dots, carbon nanotubes, gold nanoparticles, chitosan nanoparticles, silica nanoparticles, liposomes and cell-penetrating peptides - have shown promise for delivering dsRNA, but each presents limitations that constrain their practical field use.

For example, overall dsRNA delivery efficiencies vary widely among these systems, and many struggle with poor stability on plant surfaces, inconsistent uptake, or rapid environmental degradation. Some materials also raise concerns regarding biocompatibility, potential toxicity, or regulatory acceptability when deployed at scale in open-field agriculture.

Current opportunity

UQ’s LDH-clay carrier technology is a non-transgenic, delivery system where plant-protecting double-stranded RNA is adsorbed onto positively charged Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) clay particles to create a stable sprayable composition that can be applied to plant surfaces to induce RNA interference against target pests/pathogens.

UniQuest is seeking commercial partners in crop protection, biologicals, RNA innovation, or postharvest protection to license and commercialise the technology as a residue-light, non-transgenic delivery platform for sprayable RNAi products. The LDH clay protects fragile double-stranded RNA payloads by adsorbing them to positively charged LDH clay particles, creating a stable sprayable composition that can be applied to plant surfaces to trigger RNA interference against target insect pests, fungi, and plant viruses.

UQ’s clay technology has been paired with multiple target specific dsRNAs and validated across several crops and pest classes, demonstrating its versatility and robustness as a foundational RNA-enabling technology. UQ’s LDH clay technology is expected to function as one component of a broader formulated product, organisations with formulation expertise will be best positioned to integrate the technology into commercial solutions.

We anticipate licensees will be crop protection companies developing next-gen biological or RNA based products. We are seeking partners ready to commercially progress RNA based crop protection treatments.

To submit your interest, ‘Enquire now’ through growAG.

Opportunity background

UQ’s LDH clay carrier project has spanned more than a decade, most recently through the ARC Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection. The work has been strongly supported by four Australian RDCs, five University collaborators, and the Department of Primary Industries. The technology was licensed to an ag-chem company in 2019, however the licence was terminated by the licensee following a shift in business strategy. With the ARC Hub now completed and research findings consolidated, UniQuest is looking to secure a commercial licensing partner for the associated patent family, trademark, and technical know-how.

Potential other applications

UQ’s LDH clay carrier is a true platform technology extending the effective lifespan of any plant protective dsRNA sequence combined with the LDH clay nanoparticles. The dsRNA sequence payload determines the target, across plant pests and pathogens. UniQuest envisions the LDH clay platform expanded to target multiple insect pests beyond the published work in whitefly, protecting against post-harvest losses from fungal pathogens beyond the published Botrytis work; and in field protection against a wide range of plant viruses. The platform could multiplex dsRNA cargos to target many pests or pathogens in one spray. The low-residue format of LDH clay supports pipelines across row crops, vegetables, orchards, and protected cropping.