Society Medal for ex-Syngenta
man Evans
124th SCI Annual General Meeting SCI Society’s Medal 2005
 Dr
David Evans, former Head of Research & Technology at Syngenta
International AG in Switzerland, was awarded the prestigious
SCI Society’s Medal 2005 at the 124th SCI Annual General
Meeting.
The Society’s Medal marks outstanding contributions
‘where science meets business’ – particularly
conspicuous services to applied chemistry by research, discovery
or invention, or by furthering the Society’s objectives.
It was first awarded in 1896 to the British chemist John Glover
for his invention of the Glover Tower, used from the 1860s
in the manufacture of sulphuric acid by the Chamber process.
Dr Evans obtained a BSc and MSc in chemistry from the University
of Manchester, followed by an PhD in natural products chemistry
at the same institution.
He has held various posts in the agrochemical industry including
Director of Research at Schering Agrochemicals and Director
of Research at Zeneca Agrochemicals. He was appointed Head
of Research & Technology at Syngenta following the merger
of the agricultural interests of Astrazeneca and Novartis
in 2000.
Since his retirement in 2003, Dr Evans has held several
honorary positions including visiting professorships and membership
of several scientific advisory boards in government and academia.
He continues to carry out consultancy work, and has a keen
interest in fostering the public appreciation of science.
Dr Evans responded to his award with an enlightening address
entitled ‘Why is it so difficult to invent and launch
new products for crop management?’ In it, he described
the processes needed for the invention of successful agrochemicals,
and some of the obstacles.
The invention of a successful agrochemical relies on two
distinct processes, Dr Evans explained. First is the choice
of a commercial target and its definition in terms of biology
and biochemistry. Second is the elaboration of chemistries
that exploit the chosen target but that also have no deleterious
effects on a welter of non-target organisms – including
the crop we seek to protect.
It was interesting to learn that we actually ask a great
deal of candidate molecules. They must be stable when sprayed,
e.g. from planes or tractor booms; have efficient uptake into
the target organism; be able to transport to the active site
and when there resist the plant’s metabolism which tries
to remove them. Even if these are all fulfilled together with
safety to non-target organisms, the chemical must also be
economical to manufacture, and outperform its competitors.
Small wonder then that it is difficult to invent and launch
a successful new chemical entity – a process that typically
takes over eight years and can easily cost over $100m!
In the past ten years we have witnessed the emergence of
gene-based strategies as an effective alternative to chemical
treatments and their adoption by farmers and growers has been
unprecedented, said Dr Evans.
In addition, the modification of plants to provide improved
agronomic performance or to increase desirable constituents
holds great promise for the future.
However, the hurdles to progress can be social and political
as well as technical. In Europe in particular, there is significant
opposition to genetically modified crops. This situation will
only be reversed by better understanding of the science and
provision of recognised benefits to the public. This will
require compelling communication strategies, both by the companies
involved and by the scientific community as a whole.
In this context, Dr Evans demonstrated that since 1965,
the world’s population had increased by 80% and the amount
of food produced had outstripped this with an increase of
120%. This increase has been achieved with a tiny increase
in the land used for agriculture. As the population continues
to grow, we face a stark choice of putting more land under
the plough or continuing this intensification. Success with
the latter will require application of the optimum combination
of all available technologies, Dr Evans concluded.
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