Not a shrimp-sized problem: How Redux Bio’s scalable antiviral RNAi is solving crop disease

Once the white spots appear, it’s only a matter of time. 

Within days, the whole population can be wiped out. For subsistence farmers in India, Vietnam, Thailand and neighboring South Asian countries producing millions of tons of shrimp annually, every crop is a crapshoot. The odds are daunting. There’s a one in four chance of an outbreak of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), which means a risk to local food sources, jobs, and other regional economic activity. This disease and other viral pathogens pose a severe threat to the $65 billion global shrimp farming economy. Today, farmers have just two choices, neither of them good. Take a total loss on the entire diseased crop, or rush to salvage some sales by carrying out an emergency harvest, selling the undersized yield as “popcorn shrimp” at a deep discount. 

The tech in the tank

Enter Redux Bio, a venture recently co-founded by Hawkwood Biotech with a mission to prevent such catastrophic aquaculture farming losses with their flagship product, an antiviral preventative medicine. Based on a novel RNAi biotechnology that interferes with the replication of the WSSV and other diseases, the process “creates a template in the cell that silences the reproduction of the virus,” according to Redux co-founder and CEO Dr. Lincoln Tubbs. Currently in development and early clinical trials, the next step is to obtain approval from regulatory agencies before scaling up operations to supply target markets in India, Southeast Asia, and Ecuador. 

Dr. Tubbs is an aquaculture scientist with 15-plus years of industry experience developing diagnostic tools for fish pathogen detection, vaccines, and antiviral pharmaceuticals for Novartis Animal Health and Elanco. After his time developing solutions in large companies, he teamed up with Hawkwood to found and fund a startup with a clear mission – address disease prevalence in animal health using a cost-effective, orally-delivered, and scalable algae platform. 

Hawkwood and Tubbs partnered in 2021 to found the company in a capital-efficient way, with Hawkwood drawing on its team of scientists and engineers to provide technical and commercial support fractionally. Hawkwood’s Vatshal Bhanushali and council of senior engineers built techno-economic models for Redux to better understand its product costs at scale, leveraging decades of experience without the company needing to hire a full-time team of engineers. Hawkwood’s Emily Hopkins stepped into the lab to provide part-time research  and operational support to accelerate Redux’s strain development. Currently, Hawkwood’s Richard Kenny sits as part-time VP of Finance and Tony Day is the VP of R&D, supporting the development of Redux’s technology, scientific tools, and clinical trial strategy. 

Previously, Day and Kenny spent years working on aquaculture food supply solutions at Solazyme, developing the ability to ferment algae to industrial scales of more than 600,000L. Hawkwood also brings an extended network of professionals with experience in regulatory, vaccine development, aquaculture pathology, and business development, many of whom have supported Redux as scientific and business advisors. Together, the team has raised a seed investment round led by Genoa Ventures to support continued research efforts, expand the team, and begin scaling up their technology to test on farms.

Scaling beyond shrimp

While Redux’s first product is specifically designed to fight WSSV, the approach is scalable to other viruses and fish populations – where there are plenty of threats. In the 1990s, Taura Syndrome Virus (TSV) wiped out 90% of the whiteleg shrimp species in Ecuador, with a devastating economic impact exceeding $2 billion. Populations are also susceptible to Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV), Black Gill disease, and an emerging viral pathogen called Decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1) infecting freshwater and seawater crustaceans. Redux plans to introduce its platform of preventative disease management tools to other types of livestock and aquaculture farmers as the company grows.

Bringing stability and safe practices to the industry is key for Tubbs, who grew up on his family’s cattle farm in New Zealand and is very familiar with the risks farmers face. That’s why Redux is focused on protecting crop and livestock yields from emergency harvest or destruction. “It’s an incredibly challenging world right now,” says Tubbs, “economically and scientifically, with the rising costs and challenges around sustainable food production. It’s an exciting time to be contributing to the solutions.” 

The Hawkwood team, along with their extended council of experts, are committed to supporting Redux’s success every step of the way. “There’s approval, there’s manufacturing at scale, there’s safety and regulation compliance,” says Hawkwood’s Tony Day. “Then there’s the last bit of the funnel – marketing and sales and getting it out there at an affordable price.” When the product hits the market, the value to farmers will pay dividends in the local economy, beyond aquaculture crops. 

There are viral diseases in any animal food production system, from poultry to cattle to swine. “All of those industries are threatened by viruses every day because of the nature of farming,” says Tubbs. Redux’s orally-delivered, convenient and cost effective solution can bring security and “give farmers a better chance at being successful.”