A North American developer of aquatic biotechnology products and the largest privately-held pharmaceutical company in South America will cooperate in the discovery, development and commercialization of new veterinary vaccines, antimicrobial agents and diagnostic products targeting shrimp and salmon diseases characteristic of the southern hemisphere.
In a wide-ranging agreement that leverages the companies' complementary strengths, U.S.-Canadian-based Aqua Bounty Technologies (ABT) and Recalcine Farmaceutica (CFR) of Santiago, Chile will develop, manufacture and market a range of aquatic veterinary products targeted to infective species and strains specific to South America. The companies also agreed to create several regional diagnostic centers in shrimp and salmon farming areas to bring powerful new quantitative PCR and molecular probe techniques to the South American market.
"South America has embraced the Blue Revolution," said Alejandro Weinstein, the chief executive officer of CFR. "As aquaculture producers increase their volume, acquire new species and expand into new locations, effective biosecurity and best health management practices will be essential for long term stability in the industry. The strategic alliance between Recalcine and Aqua Bounty will provide farmers with the tools they need through the entire production process to detect, prevent and ultimately to cure the diseases that threaten sustainable production."
Under the agreement, ABT will develop or improve vaccines for up to five significant salmon pathogens and develop an antifungal treatment for salmon eggs and fry to be distributed by CFR. The pharmaceutical company will also introduce ABT's shrimp diagnostic kits, currently available in Asia, to the South American market. The kits are capable of detecting a single strand of pathogenic DNA in shrimp and will, under the agreement, be expanded in application to detect disease in salmon as well. The agreement also allows CFR to market ABT's shrimp immunostimulant feed additive, currently available only in Mexico, to South American markets to be determined.
CFR will finance the development costs, contribute milestone payments to fund field trials and market the full suite of shrimp and salmon health products through its established sales network.
