THE STARTUP THAT TAKES BIOTECHNOLOGY TO THE PRODUCER

The startup that takes biotechnology to the producer. Conservation International Ventures gives financial support to the startup that is developing an oral vaccine that promises to eliminate animal handling.

FeedVax received financial support from Conservation International Ventures, a landmark that confirms the startup’s relevance in seed stage. This scientist team is intended to hack animal farming by developing an oral vaccine platform that will reduce the use of antibiotics.

Infectious diseases in animal farming are a huge problem, since they produce an annual loss of $300 billion and an efficient solution has not been found yet. So far, diseases can only be treated through the use of impractical injectable vaccines which, apart from requiring special facilities and skilled operators, cause a lot of stress to the animals due to excessive manipulation. This is why the industry tends to overuse antibiotics, leaving traces in the water and leading to bacterial resistance, one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity according to the World Health Organisation.

From their labs in the city of Buenos Aires, and with a strong team of scientists, FeedVax is developing the first oral vaccine of its platform, targeting in this case streptococcus in tilapia aquaculture. For each dose of FeedVax oral vaccine, 0.4g of antibiotics will be replaced in the production.

“As a producer, I lived first-hand the difficulty of finding simple and sustainable tools to work with”, maintains FeedVax founder, Luis Barletta. Driven by this fact, Barletta decided to undertake this project. In the last 15 years, Barletta has focused on bringing to life his ideas. He challenges the status quo through the use of technology in order to achieve practical solutions to the main problems in the industry.

FeedVax’s solution has a direct impact on the quality of produced food, as well as on the sustainability of a relevant industry since fish –the industry where the first oral vaccine will be launched- is the animal protein most consumed around the world. To make it possible, FeedVax created a group of scientists, most of them with PhDs, led by Dr. Max Wilda, one of the most renowned infectious disease specialists focused on alternative vet vaccines in Argentina.

Since its beginnings, FeedVax has received the support of organisations interested in biotech and sustainability, such as Hatch, GRIDx, and the Global Aquaculture Challenge by The Yield Lab Asia. Thus, reinforcing the importance of this type of undertakings that brings innovation to areas where practices could be widely improved.

FeedVax highlights:

● The strength of FeedVax solution lies in the design of the platform that helps oral vaccine scalability, allowing the startup to include more species in its roadmap.
● One of the highest challenges in the creation of oral vaccines is to reach the desired immunisation levels. To achieve this goal, FeedVax set up its own lab and animal facilities, which exponentially increase its iteration capacity.
● Seafood is the first link in FeedVax’s roadmap. It is a super-efficient resource, with regards to proteins, and highly affordable, in economic terms. This turns it into a natural ally for accessible and safe food production, one of the main priorities, according to the World Health Organisation.
● The launch of FeedVax first oral vaccine is planned in Brazil, where Tilapia production is central, and they have an expansion plan towards Asia in the following years.
● Conservation International Ventures LLC is an impact investing vehicle managed by Conservation International, a non-profit that works to support planet-positive economies on a global scale. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples and local communities to help people and nature thrive together.