Collaboration an industry-first focusing on discovery, development, and commercialisation of next-generation ultra-specialty feed additives called Biome-actives to address livestock producers’ health and sustainability challenges
The partnership aligns Nutreco Exploration (NutEx), Nutreco’s team tasked with developing proprietary ultra-specialty ingredients to promote its purpose of Feeding the Future, with animal health’s most advanced microbiome biotech company, BiomEdit.
The collaboration covers the discovery, development and commercialisation of Biome-actives developed using BiomEdit’s advanced microbiome science and bioinformatics platform. These novel feed additives address the health and sustainability challenges of today’s animal producers, for aquaculture, poultry, swine, and cattle.
In recent years, studies into the gut microbiome have led to a basic understanding of their role in human and animal health and in how foods are digested in the gastrointestinal tract. Influencing the gut microbiome – the microbes – what they produce and their environment, for example through food supplements or medicines, can have a major impact on human health – and, similarly, can impact the health, well-being, and performance of animals.
“Saying that microbiome science has created a buzz in the last decade is an understatement. However, practical applications of this scientific progress remain scarce. Instead of focusing on microbiome composition and how to affect it, at Nutreco, we believe that mining the microbiome to find microbial functions that will benefit the animal’s physiology will unlock real sustainable progress for the welfare, health, and productivity of farm animals,” explains Nutreco’s Chief Science Officer David Bravo. “Our first NutEx strategic program will focus on these Biome-actives. We share so much with BiomEdit’s teams – scientific views, discovery and development processes, culture, and approach – that it was only logical to engage in this major strategic partnership.”
BiomEdit, established in April 2022 in a carve out from Elanco Animal Health is a venture-backed start up focused on the discovery and development of animal health products that leverage microbiome science to improve animal health, animal protein production and livestock disease monitoring. This is its first commercial partnership since it began with contributions of assets and technology from Elanco and Ginkgo Bioworks and a successful $40M Series A funding round with Ferment, Viking Global Investors, Anterra Capital.
