The Peptide Revolution in Agriculture
Kyle Schneider
Director, R&D, Vestaron
Vestaron is displacing the theory that you must sacrifice efficacy for the safety benefits of using a biological. Our biologicals work! We have developed effective biological insecticide technology derived through proprietary peptide expression and designed to be soft on beneficials and honeybees, as well as safe for fish and mammals. Beginning with the SPEAR ® brand family – providing new technology with a unique mode of action in a biological solution equal to, and often better, than the synthetic options; creating the opportunity to incorporate a new IRAC Group 32 into rotation recommendations for resistance management. The Vestaron pipeline consists of additional peptide-empowered solutions, each with a different target receptor. These solutions will change the approach to integrated pest management strategies.
Kyle has been with Vestaron since 2016 where he holds 6 patents in peptide engineering and manufacturing and was the lead scientist on the development of a novel peptide bioinsecticide currently under evaluation at the EPA. Kyle received his MS in Biophysics from Yale University, PhD in Molecular Biosciences from Northwestern University, and was a Fellow at Genentech where he studied mini antibody-like proteins prior to joining Vestaron.
Kyle is an author on 15 patents, scientific articles, and book chapters. He is a former Goldwater Scholar (2008), NIH fellow (2010-13), and National Academy of Engineering: Frontiers of Engineering awardee for promising young US engineers (2021).