Start-up targets EU with poultry feed additive product, lacking US market understanding

US start-up Akeso Biomedical is seeking the green light to market feed additive Typlex Chelate for all avian species in Europe. It has submitted an application to get regulatory approval with the European Commission.

The feed additive is mixed into animal feed and will primarily target broilers. Less than a gram of the additive is added to a kilo of feed, said Jerome Meier, chief operating officer at Akeso Biomedical. The technology claims to reduce the ability of pathogenic bacteria, like campylobacter, to stick to the intestinal lining of birds, he said.

As the bacteria can’t attach, it is killed off by gut peristalsis, which means that birds can grow healthier and not waste energy fighting off harmful bacteria, the company said.

“We started initially in Europe because the research was conducted in the UK, at the University of Nottingham,”​ Meier told FeedNavigator. “Most people would agree that Europe, and the UK in particular, are probably ahead of the US in terms of trying to put measures [in place] to control campylobacter.”​

“Many people in Europe have heard of campylobacter,”​ he said. “In New York most people wouldn’t know what it is.”​

But, he said, people were beginning to become more knowledgeable about campylobacter in the US, where the product will launch later.

Future plans and expansion​

Asked which countries the feed additive is likely to be popular in, Meier said: “There is no country in the world which is free of campylobacter. Campylobacter and birds have lived together since the beginning of time.”​

The company is now working on similar type products based around the same technology, he told us.

“Campylobacter is a big deal in all birds,”​ he said. “But for pigs it’s really not a problem, but other bacteria are. And, we are finding this technology works for a fairly broad set of pathogenic and bad bacteria – different animals will be susceptible to different bacteria.”​

Akeso Biomedical has been undertaking trials to demonstrate that product use results in improved weight gain when fed to broilers.

“We are very excited to bring Typlext Chelate to the European market, and we are receiving substantial interest from poultry producers,”​ added Simon Williams, CEO of Akeso Biomedical.

“Not only does Typlex Chelate improve poultry health and performance, but the significant reductions in carriage of campylobacter jejuni are likely to make a significant contribution to control of human campylobacteriosis, which is the most common cause of food poisoning in the EU and elsewhere,”​ he said.