Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting - ABIM 2025, 20-22 October 2025

Monday, 20 October 2025

CEST
08:30	10:00	Professional Group Meeting: IBMA Microbials You can find the presentations made during the meeting here: Member Login - IBMA-GLOBAL
08:30	10:00	Professional Group Meeting: IBMA Semiochemicals You can find the presentations made during the meeting here: Member Login - IBMA-GLOBAL
10:30	12:00	Professional Group Meeting: IBMA Macrobials - Invertebrate Biocontrol Agents You can find the presentations made during the meeting here: Member Login - IBMA-GLOBAL
10:30	12:00	Professional Group Meeting: IBMA Natural Substances You can find the presentations made during the meeting here: Member Login - IBMA-GLOBAL
14:00	16:00	IBMA Global General Assembly You can find the presentations made during the meeting here: Member Login - IBMA-GLOBAL
14:00	16:00	Session 1: Showcasing Innovations Chair: Lucius Tamm, CEO ABIM AG Steve Trim, Chief Scientific Officer, Ventera Bio Ltd A new class of natural peptide biopesticides Annabelle Gilgen, Technical Development Manager Biocontrol, Amoéba AXPERA: A new biofungicide based on a lysate of the non-pathogenic amoeba Willaertia magna C2c Maky David Wright, Science Team Leader. AgResearch Serratia proteamaculans as a targeted biocontrol agent against New Zealand grass grub Dmytro Yakovenko, Head of international development, BTU. Biotech company Metawhite Beauveria for Biological Control of Soil-Dwelling Larvae: Melolontha, Gryllotalpa, Tenebri Dorian Aznar, PhD Student, ANTOFENOL Antoferine® an eco-friendly plant extract, inhibits fungal growth and mycotoxin production Gloria Andrea Silva-Castro, Head of the Microbiology Department, Mafa Bioscience S.A. Innovation in Nematode Management: Development of a Biological Product with Aspergillus niger Lorena Halty, Study Director, i2L Research Overcoming challenges of pheromone testing under simulated use conditions Natalie Breakfield, VP of Research and Discovery, NewLeaf Symbiotics TS201 uses multiple modes of action to mitigate corn rootworm as part of IPM strategy Tzvi Zvirin, Co-founder and CEO, BioArmix Turning Nature’s Predators Into Crop Protectors Mara Kraft, Expert Engineer, Evologic Technologies GmbH Debottlenecking Conidial Biopesticides: How Scalable Production Can Close the Gap from Lab to Field Laura Mahecha, Director, Agrochemicals, Kline & Company The Business of Biologicals: Key Market Trend
17:00	17:15	Opening and Welcome note by the Executive Board ABIM AG Lucius Tamm, CEO ABIM AG Jennifer Lewis, Executive Director IBMA Global Kaspar Sutter, Regierungsrat \| Government counsellor, Canton Basel-Stadt
17:15	18:00	Bernard Blum Award All Presentations David Cary, Honorary Member, IBMA Global Helma Verberkt, Managing Director, Artemis Best Innovative Product Assisting Uptake of Biocontrol: PlatyForm Gel by Platypus Gold: Axpera by amoéba Silver: Outreach SC by Valent BioSciences Bronze: Bellator by IPL Biological Ltd

Tuesday, 21 October 2025

CEST
08:30	10:00	Session 2: Biocontrol in Action Chair: Jennifer Lewis, Executive Director, IBMA Global Sylvia Kuria, Organic Farmer, Sylvia's Basket Achieving Food Production Without Toxic Pesticides Max Schulman, Farmer, Senior Advisor, cereals oilseeds, Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) Finland Anna Madden, The Crop Capsules Company Broadacre biocontrol in Australia
08:30	10:00	Workshop: Formulation and Application Chair: Pierre Ferrand, Founder and Consultant, CPAG Consulting SRL Asefeh Golreihan, Regulatory Manager, LKC Switzerland Ltd. Nanotechnology‑Enabled Biocontrol: Formulation Breakthroughs and Regulatory Complexities Coralie Misson, R&D Manager,Minagro Sustainable formulation design: polymer-free ingredients boosting biocontrol impact Isabella Takahashi Kitano, R&D Scientist - Crop Solutions, Indorama Ventures Smart Integration of Liquid Carriers in Biopesticides Poliana Cardoso-Gustavson, Global Marketing Manager - Insights and Innovation, Croda Formulating Crop Protection, Products for Drone Application: Challenges and Opportunities Renaud Perrin, Formulation Chemist, Stepan All-in-one OD solution for biologicals Yonatan Eran, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), BioBee Sde Eliyahu Ltd. BugFlow™, Enhancing Biocontrol through Uniform and Efficient Application of Beneficial Mites
10:30	12:00	Keynote and Panel Discussion: Demonstrating and Scaling Biocontrol to Pave the Way for Resilient Agriculture Chair and moderator: Alessandra Moccia, Vice President, IBMA Global and Senior Director of Global Regulatory Affairs, Suterra Gabriele Schachermayr, Assistant Director, Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG Sustainable Crop Protection for Resilient Swiss Agriculture. How to Bridge the Gaps? Panel discussion with: Alessandra Moccia, Vice President IBMA Global Klaus Berend, Director for Food Safety, Sustainability and Innovation, European Commission Karel Bolckmans, President IBMA, BioFirst Group Livia Esterhazy, Programme Director, A Lighter Touch Juliana Jaramillo, Lead for Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture, Rainforest Alliance
12:00	14:30	Poster session (see pdf posters below)
14:30	16:00	Session 3: The latest on policies to accelerate biocontrol Chair: Sylvia Plak, RRA Director, Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe Júlia Emanuela de Souza, Regulatory Affairs \| Governmental Affairs & Advocacy, ANPII Bio REGULATION AS A CATALYST: Accelerating the Adoption of Bioinputs Eric Liégeois, Senior Policy Officer, European Commission, DG SANTE The latest on policies to accelerate biocontrol in the EU Robert Malek, Pesticide Risk Reduction Expert, CABI Global Opportunities and Challenges to the Uptake of Biopesticides: An Evidence Map Susanne Sütterlin, Directorate of Plant-Based Agro Chains and Food Quality, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Biological Plant Protection Products; the NL perspective Mikael Wraae Valsted, Head of DI Biosolutions, Danish Industry “From lab to launch”: Visions for a world-leading European biosoutions sector
16:30	18:00	Session 4: 30 Years of IBMA & 20 Years of ABIM - Reflecting on the Past and Shaping the Future Chair: Karel Bolckmans, President IBMA, BioFirst Group Camille Delpoux, COO, AGRIODOR Johannes Jehle, Director, Institute for Biological Control of the Federal Research Center for Cultivates Plants (JKI) Matthew Pickard, Head of Biologicals and Seedcare Europe, Syngenta Willem Ravensberg, Sr Bioprotectant Development Advisor, HeyFever Consulting Jean-Marc Vandoorne, CEO, BioFirst Group
16:30	18:00	Workshop Peptide Regulation Chair person: Jeremy Belzunces, Technical Project Manager, IBMA Global Co-Chair person: Emmanuelle Bonneris, Regulatory Manager Europe, Middle East, and Africa of Biosolutions, Bayer SAS Domenico Deserio, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG SANTE Peptides as biological control agents under Reg (EC) 1107/2009 Anne Kortstee, Scientific assessor for authorisation of plant protection products and biocides, CTGB Board Workshop: peptide regulation Kevin Leiner, Chief Project Officer & VP of Regulatory, Micropep Technologies Regulatory Considerations for Novel Peptide - based Biocontrols Paula Pinto, Senior Executive, SOLASTA Bio Better for your crops. Vital for our planet. Jane Richardson, Principal Administrator Food Safety, Biosafety, Pesticides,OECD OECD BIOPESTICIDES SEMINAR SESSION ON PEPTIDE CONSIDERATIONS
18:00	22:00	Anniversary celebration 20 years ABIM and 30 years IBMA

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

CEST
08:30	10:00	Session 5: How AI is Shaping the Future of Biocontrol Chair: Johannes Jehle, Director, Institute for Biological Control of the Federal Research Center for Cultivates Plants Alison Watson, Director, Agrifood Systems CoLab/ASEAN FAW Action Plan Secretariat From Algorithms to Agroecosystems: AI’s Role in Next-Generation Biocontrol Alberto Acedo, Cofounder & CSO at Biome Makers, Biome Makers Advancing Biocontrol with AI: Predictive Microbiome Intelligence for Field-Ready Insights Jean-Claude Haw-King-Chon, Chief Data Science and Information Officer, Micropep Harnessing AI to Accelerate Micropeptide Discovery for Sustainable Biocontrol Milena Stephan, Group Leader - Regulatory Affairs , Crop Protection, knoell Germany GmbH Introduction of AI at knoell - Insights, Successes, and Challenges Juan Moreno Cid, Project Development Director, Probelte Smart Biocontrol with Ba-AH2: MoA, AI-Prediction and Prescription for Fungal Management Luca Volontè, Senior Research Analyst, S&P Global Commodity Insights Transforming Biocontrol: The Role of AI in Revolutionizing Agricultural Practices
08:30	10:00	Workshop: Biocontrol Meets Finance Chair: Herman Van Mellaert, Managing Director, Crescendo BV Panel discussion with: Pam Marrone, Co-founder and Executive Chair, Invasive Species Corporation Varvara Shershneva, Responsible Investments Analyst, Erste Asset Management GmbH Mark Trimmer, President & Founding Partner, DunhamTrimmer Benjamin Warr, Private Sector Lead in the Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management (FARM) Programme, UNEP FI
10:30	12:00	Session 6: Actions to Accelerate Biocontrol Chair: José Carvalho, EMEA Regulatory Lead, Certis Biologicals Peter Wren-Hilton, Founder & CEO, Wharf42 Actions to Accelerate Biocontrol Sylvia Kuria, Organic Farmer, Sylvia's Basket (in lieu of Geoffrey Ongoya, Executive Director, IBMA Kenya) Actions to accelerate biocontrol (Kenyan perspective) Helena Rey de Assis, Programme Manager, UNEP - GEF - FARM, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) FARM: Accelerating Biocontrol Juliana Jaramillo, Lead for Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture, Rainforest Alliance Advancing Sustainable Pest Management at Rainforest Alliance Rajendra Thapar, HIL (India) Limited, Additional General Manager FARM India - An initiative towards safer and sustainable tomorrow
12:00	12:05	Closing

Poster Session (see poster pdfs below)

Authors presented their Posters during the Poster Session on Tuesday, 22 October 2025, 13:00-14:30

Number	Title	Name	Company
1		Vincent Deschaumes	ACTION PIN
2	Variovorax pallaresianus, First sulphur-oxidizing bacterium of its genus with biostimulant activity	Esmeralda van Strien	AFEPASA
3	Modernizing Regulatory Workflows: AI‑Assisted Extensive Literature Screening	Philip Kessler	Agrexis AG
4		Daniela Grossar	Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre
5	Assessing the Impact of Entomopathogenic Nematodes on Bees: Risks and Recommendations	Lukas Jeker	Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre
6		Malek Marian	AIT
7	X-Mate CRS, a New Mating Disruption Product for Management of California Red Scale	Darek Czokajlo	Alpha Scents, Inc.
8	Baculoviruses Your Ideal Partner in IPM	Florian Cueni	Andermatt Group AG
9	Madex® products continue to overcome resistance of Cydia pomonella toward Cydia pomonella granulovirus	Juliane Ebenhög	Andermatt Group AG
10	Enhancing Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Lettuce Using Pepton Animal-Protein Biostimulants	Giulio Giovannetti	APC Agro
11		Paulo Iria Antunes	Asfertglobal
12		Javier Jofre Amaya	Atens
13	Patented formulation that is based on natural raw materials kill	Thomas Meneghini	Azett GmbH & Co. KG
14	Common Formulation Types for Microbial Products	Lav Sharma	Battelle
15	Microbes 4 Climate	Ilse Cleenwerck	BCCM/LMG, Universiteit Gent
16		Sarah Reiter	BioConsortia, Inc.
17		Giovanni Amenta	Bioecopest
18	A symbiotic biostimulant: combining pro- and pre-biotics to face the current Agricultural challenges	Anna Botta	Bioiberica
19		Tom Hargreaves	Blue Frog Scientific
20	Metawhite Beauveria: MICROORGANISMS FOR PROTECTION AGAINST SOILDWELLING INSECTS	Maria Ryzhenko	BTU-Center Europe GmbH
21		Alicia Showering	BugBiome
22	Calyxia NaturacapsTM : Biodegradable Microencapsulation for Biocontrol	Maxime Hebert	Calyxia
23	Evaluation Strategies for Endocrine Disruption and Potential Exemptions for Natural Substances	Estelle Beltran	CEHTRA SAS
24	CIRCULAR VALORIZATION OF BARK BY-PRODUCTS VIA SUPERCRITICAL CO₂: TOWARD SUSTAINABLE BIOCONTROL AGENTS	Emilie Stierlin	CELABOR SRL
25		Marine Sauvignet	Certis Belchim
26	Enhancing Biological Formulations with Clariant‘s Adjuvant Solutions	Annemarie Stork	Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH
27		Thomas Lopes	COmmittee Linking Entrepreneurship – Agriculture – Development (COLEAD)
28	Crop IQ	Saivin Gotz	Crop IQ Technology Ltd
29	Pollinator Acute Contact Toxicity Tests in Overspray Scenarios	Nicole Frank	DHD-Consulting GmbH
30	Aquatic Macrophyte Toxicity: Water Phase vs. Overspray Application	Stephan Gessinger	DHD-Consulting GmbH
31		Tibor Gyarmathy	DKSH Switzerland Ltd.
32	Bloomeo software: manage your trial data and prove the efficiency of your biosolutions	Louis Gauthier	Doriane
33		Peter Mc Donald	Ecospray Ltd
34	STANDARDISED METHODS TO SCREEN THE EFFICACY OF A NOVEL BIOLOGICAL CONTROL FUNGICIDE AGAINST FUNGAL PATHOGENS IN VIVO AND IN VITRO	Faten Mansouri	Epilogic GmbH
35		Buelent Soyalan	Evergreen Garden Care Deutschland GmbH
36	Pesticide Peer Review Meeting on General Issues for Microorganisms (Fate & Ecotoxicology)	Florian Zindler	Exponent International Ltd
37	Bioaktuell	Adrian Krebs	FiBL – Bioaktuell
38		Veronika Maurer	FiBL - EU project SCALE-it
39		Carlo Gamper Cardinali	FiBL - Input List
40		Akhil Nair	Geolife
41		Charlotte Peeters	Ghent University - LM-UGent – StrainInSight
42	INNOVATIVE GREEN TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE PLANT PROTECTION	Sruthi Sreekumar	GreenOrb
43		Jeff Hill	GroNatural dba GroPro
44		Lionel Legros	GROUPE BERKEM
45	Biocontrol of Spodoptera frugiperdausing indigenous entomophagous fungi from Côte d'Ivoire	Francois Lefort	HES-SO University of applied sciences and arts Western Switzerland
46	Working with Pheromones under simulated use set-up.Challenges and considerations	Julie Masse	i2L Research
47		Caroline Reid	IBMA Professional Group – Macrobials
48	Sense and Sensitisation: Proposal for an evidence-based risk communication for micro-organisms	Jose Carvalho	IBMA Professional Group – Microbials
49		Emmanuelle Bonneris	IBMA Professional Group - Natural Substances
50	TRAPEGO: Novel tool to assess Swiss crop protection strategies at farm level	Lucius Tamm	TRAPEGO
51	European Project BIOSOLUDOE: Innovative IPM Strategies for Sustainable Agriculture 2025-2028	Inés Mitsou	IBMA Spain
52	Harnessing Pomegranate Microbiome for Sustainable Pomegranate Production: A Success Story From Lab To Land	Manjunatha Nanjundappa	ICAR NRC on Pomegranate, Solapur
53	ALTAHANCE^TM MULTIFUNCTIONAL ADJUVANTS WITH TUNABLE RAINFASTNESS	Petr Koutnik	Ingevity Corporation
54		Kuppammal Ponnusamy	IPL Biologicals Ltd
55	Biocontrol & Biostimulants Europe	Elisa Capellan Montoto	KAELTIA Consulting
56	Agriculture Solutions	Eleni Panagiotopoulou	KLK Kolb
57	CRACKING THE CODE: SUCCESSFUL CONTROL OF THE NEW MYZUS PERSICAE VARIANT USING KOPPERT IPM STRATEGY	Mattijs Bodegom	Koppert
58		Alexandra Kastelein	Koppert
59	Paradigm Shift in Sterile Insect Technique	Bruce Webb	Lepidext
60	INDUCTION OF PLANT IMMUNE RESPONSES BY NATURAL ZEOLITES: INSIGHTS INTO DEFENCE SIGNALLING PATHWAYS	Melanie Paumann	Lithos Crop Protect GmbH
61	Microencapsulation for Enhanced Stability, Efficacy and Compatibility	Ryan Michaud	Milliken
62		Benjamin Langendorf	Momentive Inc.
63	Accelerating Biocontrol Development through Advanced Ingredients	Satoshi Tsubuko	Nagase (Europa) GmbH
64	OECD 249 Fish Gill Cell Assay: Evaluating Its Applicability For Industrial Chemical Toxicity Prediction	Kirsten McVean	Noack Laboratorien GmbH
65	Formulation tools for enhanced biologicals with Nouryon	Solmaz Bayati	Nouryon
66	novIGRain	Astrid Croes	novIGRain
67	novIGRain: POTENTIAL BUSINESS MODELS FOR INTRODUCTION OF NEW LARVICIDE FOR STORED GRAIN PROTECTION	Egor Moshkin	novIGRain
68	novIGRain: SUSTAINABLE STORAGE OF GRAINS BY IMPLEMENTING A NOVEL PROTECTANT AND A VERSATILE APPLICATION TECHNOLOGY	Frederic Verwilghen	novIGRain
69		Otto Koch	Olmix
70		Meghan Shannon Harrison	Pest Research Hub
71	Effectiveness of Microalgae-Based Biostimulant STIMUTER® on Agronomic and Quality Traits in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)	Daniel Cornelisse	Pireco Productie BV
72		Valentino Russo	Promethea Biochem Solutions
73	GLOBAL PESTICIDE REGISTRATION SERVICES	Jocelyn Zhang	REACH24H Consulting Group
74	RAISE YOUR AUREO SHIELD: Organic fungicide for post-harvest citrus	Carmen Stummer	SAN Agrow Holding GmbH
75	ECONEX RAPE STEM WEEVIL ADJUSTABLE TRAP	Francisco Martínez Campillo	SANIDAD AGRICOLA ECONEX S.L.
76		Carlos Repiso	Sensient BioNutrients
77	REGULATION FOR BIOPESTICIDES IN THE ANDEAN COMMUNITY (CAN)	Liz Montañez	SerAgro - RedLatam Regulatory Affairs
78		Sheng Zhang	Shanghai Galaxy Science and Technology Corporation
79		Paolo Brero	Silvateam
80	ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT OF MICROBIAL CROP PROTECTION PRODUCTS	Arthur Putt	Smithers
81	Formulation Makes The Difference: Syensqo Biologicals Solutions	Celine Orizet	Syensqo
82		Achuthan Manikandan Manoj	T. Stanes and Company Limited
83	ECOTOXICOLOGICAL STUDIES ON POLLINATORS	Frédéric Lebrun	TESTAPI SAS
84	EXPRESSION ASSESSMENT AND RNAi-MEDIATED MODULATION OF DETOXIFYING ENZYMES IN COLORADO POTATO BEETLE IN THE CONTEXT OF INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE	Pier Jr Morin	Université de Moncton
85		Katharina Steiner	Valibiotics AG
86	Vegenov services for plant health	Juliette Clément	Vegenov
87	ROBIO PROJECT TOWARDS INTEGRATED PROTECTION OF ROSE AGAINST FOLIAR FUNGAL DISEASES: BIOCONTROL AND VARIETAL RESISTANCE	Klervi Crenn	Vegenov
88	BreezeCoat™ by VensoGrow: Unlock biological layers on fertiliser	Marko Trifunović	VensoGrow
89		Paul Grant	Ventera Bio Ltd.
90	Precision Delivery of Active Substances for Plant Health with Innovative Bioadjuvants	Nikola Mijailovic	Verdancy (Bioadjuvants/Interactive Release Systems)

Anniversary celebration 20 years ABIM and 30 years IBMA