Public Funding for Aparon Ltd

This project is to develop a novel biocontrol ready for commercial sales to combat _Clostridium perfringens_ (CP) in commercial poultry flocks. CP is the bacterium that causes Necrotic Enteritis (NE) in chickens. NE and subclinical NE are estimated to cost the global poultry industry over $6bn pa due to poor feed energy conversion levels, mortalities, vet and medicine costs and higher risk of human food poisoning. It is currently controlled by antibiotics which are under pressure to be withdrawn in all parts of the world in the face of the global antibiotic crisis. This project's novel biocontrol will be a combinative narrow spectrum product specifically targeted against toxigenic strains of CP. It will act as a natural growth promoter (NGP) to be used in place of AGPs in support of the global battle against AMR. Withdrawal of AGPs in animal husbandry must be combined with effective alternative NGPs to control NE if a catastrophic fall in feed energy conversion performance is to avoided. This project will build on 5 years of research by the UK project lead including a 3 year KTP and now brings together a UK / Chinese consortium with diverse technical and commercial capabilities to successfully bring the product to market.

Through this 24 months industrial research project Arden Biotechnology (global leaders in bacteriophage research) and Avara foods (one of the UK's largest poultry integrators) are developing a novel bacteriophage solution to replace banned antimicrobial growth promoters to prophylactically control the opportunistic avian pathogen _Enterococcus cecorum_ from the poultry sector. Successful development and commercialisation of the proposed solution will improve the productivity and sustainability of the UK and global poultry sector without using antibiotics thereby supporting agricultural transition to a net zero carbon emission industry through reduced feed usage and improved welfare.

Feed usage accounts for ~78% of poultry farming greenhouse-gas-emissions. In response to a growing demand to enhance sustainability in poultry production in the UK, Canada (and worldwide), the consortium (Arden Biotechnology, UK & TrustBIX CA) wishes to address the financially debilitating and poor feed utilising disease in poultry, necrotic enteritis (NE) and subclinical necrotic enteritis (SNE), by utilising bacteriophage technology. Prophylactic antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) are currently used to control necrotic enteritis (NE), an enteric gut disease caused by the pathogen _Clostridium perfringens_ (CP). NE has a major impact on gut health, particularly in the broiler industry, costing it ~US$6billions per year globally. The prophylactic use of AGPs can negatively impact beneficial gut bacteria and is being banned or withdrawn in many countries due to consumer pressure and concerns on antimicrobial resistance. This will however increase FCR and threaten the sustainability of poultry production in the absence of an effective control for CP, causing more feed to be required and a longer growing period for birds to reach optimum weight. Arden Biotechnology, UK (Arden) have developed a novel bacteriophage cocktail, a natural feed supplement (NFS) to combat CP, enhance gut health and reduce the risk of NE and SNE. Through this collaborative 24 months industrial research project, Arden are seeking to extend the development of this technology to apply to the Canadian poultry and other livestock sectors in partnership with TrustBIX Inc. Canada. As the industry moves away from AGPs, poultry performance decreases and therapeutic antibiotic use increases. A natural product that maintains gut health will improve sustainability of the poultry sector in the absence of AGPs by effecting a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by reducing FCR, land use change, excretion of volatile solids in manure and on farm energy use. This project is to confirm and predict these sustainability claims, develop appropriate metrics, and develop a platform to track food produced using Arden's Sustavian technology through the supply chain, to monetise the sustainability attributes. This project will add value to the Canadian and UK poultry sectors by delivering a control for NE using bacteriophage specifically to combat CP. It will further enable the enhancements to a nationally leading sustainable livestock traceability platform, adapting it for use in the poultry sector and enhancing its analytical capacity with the introduction of new AI/ML capabilities to support the enhancements of data quality and analysis.

This project is to develop a novel biocontrol ready for commercial sales to combat Clostridium perfringens (CP) in commercial poultry flocks. CP is the bacterium that causes Necrotic Enteritis (NE) in chickens. NE & subclinical NE are estimated to cost global poultry industry over $6bn pa due to poor feed energy conversion levels, mortalities, vet & medicine costs and higher risk of human food poisoning. It is currently controlled by antibiotics which are under pressure to be withdrawn globally in the face of the global antibiotic crisis. This project’s novel biocontrol will be a combinative narrow spectrum product specifically targeted against toxigenic strains of CP. It will act as a natural growth promoter (NGP) to be used in place of AGPs to support the global battle against AMR. Withdrawal of AGPs in animal husbandry must be combined with effective alternative NGPs to control NE if a catastrophic fall in feed energy conversion performance is to avoided. This project will build on 5Yrs of research by the UK project lead including a 3 year KTP and now brings together a UK / Chinese consortium with diverse technical and commercial capabilities to successfully bring the product to market.