“To make this feed trial possible, we had to first scale production of KBM500 to the interim manufacturing stage," stated Larry Feinberg, CEO of KnipBio. "This marks the third KBM product to be scaled to this size and is further demonstration of the maturity and reproducibility of the KnipBio Meal manufacturing technology.”

The feed trials showed no significant difference in feed conversion ratio or weight gain for Atlantic salmon fed diets containing 5%, 10%, and 15% KBM500 when compared to fish fed a standard diet. The trials were conducted over a period of 28 days by an independent, third-party research organization.  

“We have now completed successful efficacy trials with three different protein products: KBM203, which is rich in prebiotic compounds, our high-protein KBM324 ingredient, and now KBM500," Feinberg continued. "The tests have been conducted on commercially important finfish and crustacean species including salmonids, yellowtail, and Pacific white shrimp, and demonstrated KBM-based aquafeed diets offer equal or better performance than fishmeal. We view this is strong evidence that KBM is highly suitable as a protein replacement for soy or fishmeal in an aquafeed, while at the same time providing additional functional feed benefits. I am increasingly encouraged by these trial results, particularly in the area of reduced animal mortality and overall growth performance.”

This recent palatability test is part of KnipBio’s ongoing efforts to advance its PROTEINplus nutritional platform technology. Approximately twenty trials to date have successfully confirmed the effect of KBM on growth rates and feed conversion ratios, and have also confirmed KBM has no discernible effect on fish’s taste, color, or texture.

"The next stage in our nutritional program is expanding our research to include large-scale field trials," Feinberg continued. "This will enable us to show the effectiveness of KBM in real-world conditions including exposure to potential pathogens and environmental fluctuations."