Industrias Melder revises initial order from 300 kgs to 2 tonnes
Ottawa, ON /Business Wire/ May 20, 2020 / – Avivagen Inc. (TSXV:VIV, OTCQB:VIVXF) (“Avivagen”) a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing immune-system improving products for livestock, companion animal and human applications, is pleased to announce that its North American purchase order for OxC-beta™ Livestock, placed in March by Mexico-based Industrias Melder, has been increased from 300 kgs to 2 tonnes. The increase follows the positive results of two dairy animal tests recently conducted by one of Industrias Melder’s key customers.
Kym Anthony, C.E.O. of Avivagen commented
“We are very excited to announce this increase in the initial sale of OxC-beta™ Livestock to Industrias Melder and we are working to further formalize a long-term relationship with them. This sale has a twofold significance. First, it represents a critical step in bringing OxC-beta™ Livestock to Mexico, a market with annual feed sales of more than 36 million tonnes.(( https://www.alltech.com/press-release/2019-alltech-global-feed-survey-estimates-world-feed-production-increased-3-percent)) Second, this is the first application of OxC-beta in the dairy sector and therefore it provides crucial commercial validation of the product that other customers will look to when making purchasing decisions.” Mr. Anthony further added “It should also be noted that both these milestones were spearheaded by our Mexican partner, Mr. Alejandro Meyenberg, whose help and expertise were instrumental in this endeavour.”
This significant order comes as the result of two positive tests of OxC-beta™ Livestock under Mexican commercial dairy production conditions. Both tests were conducted by a dairy farm that is a customer of Industrias Melder. The tests ran for 42 days and evaluated OxC-beta for the ability to improve animal health, productivity and milk quality. In the first test, conducted with a group of the farm’s best producing cows, there were improvements in the both the quantity and quality of milk produced. The largest impact was a 54% reduction in the farm’s bulk tank milk-somatic cell count. The somatic cell count of a farm’s bulk milk reservoir is a widely recognized indicator of milk quality and farms commonly receive financial incentives or premiums for milk with lower somatic cell counts. There was also a benefit on animal health as indicated by reduced somatic cell counts from milk sampled from individual animals. Of significant note, a large and well known global dairy processor that purchases the farm’s milk recognized the farm with three separate financial awards for the improvements in milk yield, quality, and reduced bacterial levels achieved during the test.
At the conclusion of the first test a second test was conducted at the same site on a separate group of cows with chronic health, productivity and milk quality challenges. The results of the second test were largely consistent with those observed for the first trial. Namely, increased milk quality stemming from an improvement in overall animal health. As in the first test the benefit of using OxC-beta was most evident on the bulk tank milk-somatic cell count, which was greatly reduced (67%) during the second test. There was also an 8 % increase in the number of animals categorized as “healthy” by the attending veterinarian. This was an important finding given the suboptimal health status of this group of animals at the beginning of the test.
The successful outcome of these latest tests in Mexico is consistent with earlier dairy trials in New Zealand and China and provides yet further evidence of OxC-beta’s benefits for dairy cattle, in addition to swine, poultry, companion animals and humans.
About Avivagen
Avivagen is a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications. By unlocking an overlooked facet of β-carotene activity, a path has been opened to safely and economically support immune function, thereby promoting general health and performance in animals. Avivagen is a public corporation traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol VIV and on the OTCQB Exchange in the U.S. under the symbol VIVXF, and is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, based in partnership facilities of the National Research Council of Canada and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. For more information, visit www.avivagen.com. The contents of the website are expressly not incorporated by reference in this press release.
About OxC-beta™ Technology and OxC-beta™ Livestock
Avivagen’s OxC-beta™ technology is derived from Avivagen discoveries about β-carotene and other carotenoids, compounds that give certain fruits and vegetables their bright colours. Through support of immune function the technology provides a non-antibiotic means of promoting health and growth. OxC-beta™ Livestock is a proprietary product shown to be an effective and economic alternative to the antibiotics commonly added to livestock feeds. The product is currently available for sale in the United States, Philippines, Taiwan, New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico, Australia and Malaysia.
Avivagen’s OxC-beta™ Livestock product is safe, effective and could fulfill the global mandate to remove all in-feed antibiotics as growth promoters. Numerous international livestock trials with poultry and swine using OxC-beta™ Livestock have proven that the product performs as well as, and, sometimes, in some aspects, better than in-feed antibiotics.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon the current expectations of management. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties associated with the business of Avivagen Inc. and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions “aim”, “anticipate”, “appear”, “believe”, “consider”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “if”, “intend”, “goal”, “hope”, “likely”, “may”, “plan”, “possibly”, “potentially”, “pursue”, “seem”, “should”, “whether”, “will”, “would” and similar expressions. Statements set out in this news release relating to the continued distribution and acceptance of Avivagen’s technology, anticipated growth in demand for Avivagen’s products, the possibility for OxC-beta™ Livestock to replace antibiotics in livestock feeds as well as fill a critical need for health support in certain livestock applications where antibiotics are precluded, the size of market opportunities and the potential for a longer term relationship with Industrias Melder are all forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. For instance, these initial orders may not result in new orders for Avivagen’s products, demand for Avivagen’s products may not continue to grow and could decline, Avivagen’s products may not gain market acceptance or regulatory approval in new jurisdictions or for new applications and may not be widely accepted as a replacement for antibiotics in livestock feeds, new market access may not occur in the timeline or manner expected by Avivagen, the market opportunities may not be as large as Avivagen anticipates and a longer term relationship with Industrias Melder may not be achieved due to many factors, many of which are outside of Avivagen’s control. Trial results described above may not be indicative of anticipated results of using Avivagen’s products in all cases. Readers are referred to the risk factors associated with the business of Avivagen set out in Avivagen’s most recent management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition available at www.SEDAR.com. Except as required by law, Avivagen assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information:
Avivagen Inc.
Drew Basek
Director of Investor Relations
100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6
Phone: 416-540-0733
E-mail: d.basek@avivagen.com
Kym Anthony
Chief Executive Officer
100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6
Head Office Phone: 613-949-8164
Website: www.avivagen.com
Copyright © 2020 Avivagen Inc. OxC-beta™ is a trademark of Avivagen Inc.
