Global animal health and nutrition company Novus International acquired biotech company Agrivida. Through the purchase, Novus takes ownership of the proprietary INTERIUS™ technology Agrivida developed to embed feed additives inside the grain. This move by Novus comes two years after it began a commercial partnership with Agrivida to support the sale of the startup’s flagship product, GRAINZYME®.
“Since December 2020, we’ve taken the time to understand and explore what INTERIUS™ technology is capable of,” said Novus president and CEO, Dan Meagher. “With this technology, we believe we can revolutionize the feed additive industry through the expression of high-value, functional proteins inside the grain, providing new products that are sustainable, both environmentally and operationally.”
While the category of functional proteins includes enzymes, which Agrivida has already accomplished through GRAINZYME®, the Novus Innovation team is expanding the product offerings to include antibodies embedded in grain.
“Single-domain antibodies present an opportunity to naturally address the health challenges producers face in antibiotic-reduced and antibiotic-free production. These antibodies are a challenge to produce cost-effectively and deliver to the animal in a sustainable way,” said Novus vice president and chief innovation officer, Al Zimmerman. “INTERIUS™ technology addresses these challenges by removing costly fermentation and coating processes as well as offers the potential to stack different antibodies and/or enzymes in a single corn product solution for the animal. Traditionally, these efforts would require blended products, which would mean more processing and cost. The INTERIUS™ technology delivers this benefit in a single ingredient - corn.”
Instead of manufacturing feed additives by fermentation, INTERIUS™ technology tells the grain how to make the additive directly in the grain. The grain is grown, harvested and ground, and fed to the animal like any other corn in the diet. Zimmerman said by having the additive inside the grain, the molecules are more efficiently absorbed by the animal, allowing producers to improve both performance and their return on investment.
The acquisition includes Agrivida and its operations in Massachusetts and Nebraska. The Agrivida team, including founders R. Michael Raab and Jeremy Schley-Johnson, will join Novus bringing with them their innovative approach to developing functional proteins.
Raab, who is also Agrivida’s chief technology officer, said he’s excited about the opportunities to come. “Joining Novus will accelerate the deployment of new animal health and nutrition solutions through the INTERIUS™ platform. As Agrivida alone, our bandwidth to develop and commercialize products was limited by our resources and global expertise. As part of Novus, we can now bring multiple products to market and attain a global reach to deliver new, technology-based solutions faster than before.”
