Stirling Signs Agreement with North American Bioscience Company
Stirling Products, an Australian public company (ASX: STI), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the co-development of Stirling’s R-salbutamol products within North America as well as registration and distribution of PBI’s natural immune stimulant (ProVale™) in Australia and Pacific Rim countries.
The Agreement details a series of steps that both parties will undertake within the next 180 days to evaluate the potential for a merger of common interests, intellectual property, know-how and operations.
"The relationship has considerable benefits for Stirling," indicated CEO and Managing Director, Dr. Calvin London. "ProVale™ has been demonstrated to be an effective yet natural alternative for growth promotional properties of antibiotics in swine and poultry. This natural 'immunobiotic' has the benefit of boosting the immune system by significantly increasing the immunity to both viral and bacterial diseases in swine (i.e. sows, piglets and finisher pigs), poultry (i.e. broilers and turkeys) and farmed aquaculture species (i.e., shrimp) and fish."
Provale™ is a highly purified, safe and natural immune stimulating bioactive extract for use as a livestock or pet animal feed supplement. This unique "immunobiotic" has the benefit of boosting the immune system by increasing the immunity to various bacterial and viral diseases of animals. The product already has sales in North America and expects to increase sales in South East Asia before the end of the year.
"This product is an excellent companion product for our own R-salbutamol, but because it is natural, it does not carry the same regulatory hurdles, thus sales revenues can occur sooner," commented Dr. London. "This potential relationship fits our strategy to generate early revenues for the company while we complete our ongoing development of R-salbutamol applications. It also provides the opportunity to capitalise on a range of new and complimentary products to build our portfolio."
President and CEO of PBI, Mr. Shane Patelakis said, "ProVale™ has been shown to extensively aid in the herd management of swine. When compared with antibiotics, ProVale™ has been shown to have clear advantages in poultry."
A number of viral infections such as Circo virus, PRSS and H1N1 (Swine Influenza virus) as well as a number of bacterial infections can cause significant losses in commercial pig operations. Circo virus for example can result in up to 25% herd mortality in some parts of the world and PRSS virus can be found in nearly all pork producing areas of the world and can lead to 20-50% pre-weaning mortality.
"We see the potential relationship with Stirling as extremely positive and an essential step in moving each of our respective technologies forward," commented Mr. Patelakis.
PBI is part of the Prince Edward Island Bioscience cluster represented by the PEI BioAlliance www.peibioalliance.com. The cluster which consists of both public and private stakeholders has already made very significant investments to further the development of bioscience commercialization in the Province of Prince Edward Island. Stirling and PBI intend to submit applications to this group and the Atlantic Innovation Fund for research funding to progress the development of their technologies.
"Completion of this arrangement with PBI would give Stirling Products a presence in North America and the opportunity to manage ProVale™ in Asia and elsewhere," said Dr. London. "Asia is a large producer of shrimp and the effects of ProVale™ on shrimp production by controlling disease states in commercial shrimp farms are impressive."
Stirling Products is commercializing patented animal growth promoters that increase meat production, while decreasing fat accumulation in the animals. The Stirling growth promoters increase meat production while simultaneously decreasing feed intake and is therefore improving the feed efficiency. The Stirling growth promoters are under development for swine, poultry, cattle and sheep for global markets and are being positioned to take a major role in reducing the global use of antibiotics and steroid hormones in livestock. Stirling is also developing veterinary medications for heaves in horses and obesity in companion animals.
Progressive BioActives Inc. (PBI) is a privately held innovative bioscience company located on Prince Edward Island, Canada. PBI comprises a group of leading scientists & business people, experienced in the development and production of natural immune stimulants which are extracted from specialized yeast cells and purified to achieve optimal bioactivity/immune stimulation. Provale™ is the latest high purity beta glucan extract that is designed as an alternative tool for sustainable livestock management in face of increasing viral disease challenges where antibiotics have no or limited application. ProVale™ will be made available for targeted applications in swine, poultry and farmed aquaculture with a future focus on further developing applications for companion animals (e.g., horses, dogs, cats and reptiles).
PBI produces and currently sells its products to the swine, poultry, and farmed fish and shrimp markets.
