A new deal with a Korean company is expected to lead to strong growth opportunities for a Bendigo-based veterinary group.
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Apiam Animal Health and Korean company Plumbline Life Sciences have entered into an agreement that gives Apiam exclusive distribution rights for some of Plumbline’s patented immunotherapy technology products for the pig, cattle and horse industries in Australia and New Zealand.
Apiam will also be given the first option to market future therapies for companion animals when those become available in Australia, as well as current and future pig products in the US and Canada.
“We think it’s going to provide significant growth opportunities for our company as we use this new technology to improve health and welfare outcomes for the animals under our care,” Apiam managing director Dr Chris Richards said.
Dr Richards said the introduction of the new technology in Australia would also benefit the animal agriculture industries.
"New technologies such as these will see improved performance in animal production, primarily through improved health,” he said.
“We expect these technologies will enable the agriculture industry to improve production performance, and ultimately profitability.”
The technologies had been widely used in humans as therapies for cancers and other diseases, Dr Richards said, but it was the first time they had been introduced into the animal health space.
Plumbline has developed a product used in sows to increase the number of pigs weaned, as well as vaccine and immunotherapy products that have demonstrated ability in trials to prevent disease and improve health in animals.
It has also developed gene therapy products to improve outcomes for dog cancer, and dog and cat kidney disease.
Dr Richards expects the first products will become available in the domestic markets in the last quarter of the 2018-19 financial year.
Under the agreement, Apiam will also undertake research on some products to determine performance in commercial conditions in Australia and New Zealand.