Scientists recruit alpacas into fight against salmon lice
In-feed treatment is made with camelid-derived 'nanobodies' that are small enough to transfer from fish's stomach to skin
A biotechnology company based in Hamburg, Germany, today announced that it had developed an in-feed treatment to prevent sea lice from parasitising farmed salmon.
AquaNab says it is the first in the world to apply alpaca-derived “nanoantibodies” – which it calls AquaNabs – through fish feed. Nanoantibodies, also called nanobodies, are antibody fragments derived from the antibodies of camelids such as alpacas and llamas. They are roughly one-tenth the size of conventional antibodies, offering exceptional stability, deep tissue penetration, and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier.
“Working with nanoantibodies and oral administration is no easy task. Consequently, our proof-of-concept comprised three key milestones, two of which we have already achieved,” AquaNab chief executive Dr Ruth Tamara Montero told Fish Farming Expert.
“We have successfully generated highly specific nanobodies (AquaNabs) against sea lice and demonstrated their ability to bind to the parasite’s proteins. Furthermore, we have shown that AquaNabs can be incorporated into fish feed, survive the digestive process, cross the intestinal barrier, and enter the systemic circulation, thereby able to interact with the parasite during the developmental stage when it feeds on skin and blood,” added Montero, an experienced fish immunologist who spent nearly four years as a senior research at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and has a doctorate from Germany's Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut.
“The final milestone of this phase involves efficacy trials, which are scheduled to begin in the coming weeks.”
Although the company's first product is being developed for Atlantic salmon, it says its nanobody platform is designed to be adapted to bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases across multiple aquaculture species.
VC investor
AquaNab has secured an investment from Finnish company Nordic Foodtech VC, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on solving the hardest problems in food and agriculture. AquaNab is its first investment outside the Nordics.
“AquaNab has the potential to transform not only how disease is managed in aquaculture, but how we think about health and resilience across food production,” said Mika Kukkurainen, a partner at Nordic Foodtech.
“By turning advanced nanoantibody science into a practical, feed-based solution, the team is creating a pathway from breakthrough biotechnology to measurable outcomes in farming: lower losses, healthier animals, and greater efficiency. This is the kind of technology that can reshape an industry.”
AquaNab was co-founded by Montero, chief scientific officer Dr Alejandro Rojas Fernandez, and Gunnar Johildarson, managing director of Denmark and Faroes delousing equipment maker Sea Farm Innovations.
Immuno-therapeutics
Its mission is to transform aquaculture through robust, low-cost, and sustainable precision immuno-therapeutics, and it says the science behind AquaNab builds on internationally recognised expertise in nanobody development.
Rojas was among the first researchers globally to develop neutralising nanoantibodies against Covid and other viruses. He is principal investigator at the Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh), and a founder of two other Hamburg-based companies: Berking Bioscience GmbH, which provides services for single chain antibodies/Vhh to pharmaceutical companies in Europe and to develop proof-of-concept projects; and Berking Theranostic UG for the development of radioactive nanoantibodies to treat tumours.
Permission required
AquaNab said it is expanding collaborations with salmon producers, feed manufacturers, and animal health companies, and is currently seeking additional investment to accelerate development of its nanoantibody platform and bring its first products to market, something that will require regulatory approval.
“AquaNab is a protein-based biological solution (Precision Immunotherapeutics for Aquaculture, or PIA),” Montero told Fish Farming Expert.
“Given the product's intended indications, the anti-sea-louse AquaNabs will be classified as a biological veterinary medicinal product (VMP). As with any innovative biological product, the regulatory process is a journey in itself; however, we are making efforts to streamline the process and make our product available to fish farmers as soon as possible.”
