Lithos Crop Protect and the EIC Accelerator: Pheromones Wait

Mating disruption fills a field with a female insect's scent so the males cannot find partners, protecting crops without insecticides. Lithos Crop Protect, founded in Ennsdorf, Upper Austria, in 2018, loads pheromones onto a natural mineral carrier it calls the lithos micro dispenser, so that the method can be sprayed over large areas, according to its EIC project. Its main target is the western corn rootworm, whose larvae feed on maize roots.

The European Innovation Council granted €1,366,312 towards a €2.0 million project from December 2022 to November 2024, and the EIC Fund invested alongside the Austrian investment company Invest AG in October 2023, according to Lithos. In June 2024 Syngenta Biologicals agreed to distribute the rootworm product, Pherolit-d, in Europe, with registration expected by 2026. The EU's food safety agency EFSA published its peer review of the active substance in 2026; the product has not yet been approved.

Where Lithos Stands Now

EFSA's experts discussed the substance's toxicology in teleconferences on 24 and 25 November 2025, and the peer review concluded that field spraying on maize and sweet corn gives "sufficient insecticidal efficacy against the target pests". Lithos called it a major step closer to EU approval and noted that approval of new pheromone substances is rare. While it waits, Lithos sells plant strengtheners and biostimulants in Austria. Its share capital was last increased in 2025, according to North Data.

The Technology: Scent on a Stone

The final report says the maize formulation, CornProtect, gained stability, absorbed more pheromone and released it for longer, and was tested at several sites in Europe. The team also adapted the carrier for other pheromones. It registered one patent and filed another. The report gives no figures on field efficacy, hectares treated or sales.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

The project was to apply pheromone mating disruption to crops "on a large scale". It improved the product, found an exclusive European distributor and brought in the EIC Fund and a private investor. Large-scale use depends on an EU approval that had not arrived when the project ended and has not arrived since.

1. Improved formulationDeliveredPer final report.
2. Distribution partnerSignedSyngenta, 2024.
3. EFSA peer reviewPublishedEFSA Journal, 2026.
4. Large-scale useNot yetEU approval pending.

The 2022 award built on an earlier one. In the EIC SME Instrument Phase 2 cut-off of 5 June 2019, Lithos was selected, grant only, for CORNPROTECT, which was to optimise the rootworm formulation, scale up production and register the product, according to the European Commission's list of selected companies. CORDIS records an EU contribution of €1,345,085.88 towards a €1.92 million project from December 2019 to November 2021, according to CORDIS. Its final report says Lithos improved the formulation, set up production of the active ingredient, signed distribution partners and submitted the active-substance dossier in March 2021. A CORDIS summary published in 2022 expected EU approval by 2024; it has not been granted.

The Money

Lithos has not disclosed the size of the 2023 round with Invest AG and the EIC Fund, and its Austrian accounts are not freely displayed. The report mentions a collaboration with the European Investment Bank, which advises the EIC Fund. Without approval, its pheromone products cannot yet earn revenue in the EU.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Lithos offers a pheromone alternative against what its Syngenta announcement calls Europe's most important maize pest. Years after the EIC backed it, its product still awaits EU approval, which a 2022 CORDIS summary expected by 2024.

The Verdict

Lithos Crop Protect and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.