Phyterra Bio will produce oral vaccines in PEI
Phyterra Bio will be responsible for the development of novel health care products derived from the micro-algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, as a result of assets acquired by Functional Technologies through its 2007 acquisition of Phycobiologics Inc.
The initial target markets for Phyterra Bio's micro-algae products will be companion animal (pet) oral health care and aquaculture vaccines.
"Our world class team, headed by Dr. Michael Horne, has a demonstrated expertise in micro-organism product development through their extensive work and success on urea-degrading yeasts but also in the impressive commercial success of their previous endeavor in establishing a global aquaculture business," commented Howard Louie, CEO of Functional Technologies in a company press release. "Our team's proven track record of successful micro-organism development helped secure the previously disclosed funding through the Atlantic Innovation Fund allowing us to expand our research capacity to handle both our yeast and micro-algae technology platforms."
Phyterra Bio is developing oral aquaculture vaccines to treat a multitude of marine life. The current worldwide aquaculture health products market is estimated to be CAD 750 million annually. Many of the world's farmed finfish species are injection vaccinated but the lack of effective orally applied vaccines is a major barrier to market expansion. Oral vaccination would open up substantial new market segments since many farmed species constantly battle unchecked disease. Phyterra Bio's micro-algae based vaccine product is ready for laboratory scale trials.
