Former Alpharma and Purina Mills Senior Executives Join MariCal Board
Past chief executive officers of Alpharma’s Animal Health Division and Purina Mills have joined the board of directors of MariCal, as the privately held aquatic life science biotechnology company expands its intellectual property applications into the estimated $230.4 billion worldwide animal health and nutrition industries that serve the food and companion animal markets.
Bruce I. Andrews, a former President and CEO of the Animal Health Division of Alpharma, Inc, a leading global manufacturer and marketer of pharmaceutical and feed additive products for livestock, poultry and fish worldwide, was elected to the MariCal board at their November quarterly board meeting and announced by MariCal Chairman, Steve Morrell.
Joining Andrews on the MariCal board is Edward L. McMillan, a former President and CEO of Purina Mills Inc., which was the largest manufacturer and distributor of animal nutrition products in the U.S. Morrell expressed, “The MariCal board is significantly strengthened by the addition of Bruce Andrews and Ed McMillan. These gentlemen are premier talent being extremely well respected and known by the industry. They will help provide the key strategic guidance MariCal needs to exploit the nutrition and health segments of agribusiness that will return value to our stockholders.”
MariCal’s key discovery is that of a class of molecular extracellular ion receptor proteins, called Calcium Receptors (CaR’s), that serve as the biological sensors or “master switches” that enable aquatic organisms to sense and respond to changes in both water salinity and nutrients in their aquatic environment. This patented technology also has applications in food and companion animals by providing specialized dietary formulations that enhance the nutritional and growth performance of livestock and pets.
“I am very excited about MariCal’s Calcium Receptor technology that utilizes a natural process. I believe it will have as big an impact on the livestock and poultry industries to improve feed utilization and overall health as feed antibiotics had in the early 50’s,” says Andrews.
“I look forward to assisting MariCal in the pursuit of the successful application of their Calcium Receptor technology into numerous food producing and companion animal species worldwide,” said McMillan.
MariCal Senior Vice President, William Thomas stated, “Bruce Andrews and Ed McMillan are exceptional leaders of the animal health and nutrition industry. Their joining MariCal’s board is validation of the scientific strength of our technology and the promising future our product development efforts will bring to food and companion animals as well as to our core aquaculture business.”
Thomas indicated that Fountain AgriCounsel, a leading management consulting and strategic advisor firm to the agribusiness industry was instrumental in facilitating the introductions of Andrews and McMillan to MariCal.
Currently McMillan is an independent business consultant focusing on food and agribusiness, and Andrews serves as the COO of BioValve Technologies, Inc. a specialty pharmaceutical company. Both McMillan and Andrews have extensive animal health and nutrition industry involvement and also serve on numerous corporate boards.
MariCal, headquartered in Portland, Maine was founded in 1996 and is a privately held animal health and nutrition biotechnology company with 26 full time employees with operations in Chile and offices in Alaska, Canada, United Kingdom, and Norway. In addition, MariCal is a jointventure partner in Virginia Cobia Farms LLC, based in Saltville, Virginia. MariCal is a recognized global leader in aquatic biotechnology possessing 55 issued and pending patents in their field. Natural and environmentally friendly, the specific applications developed from the Company’s technology use neither genetic alteration nor the introduction of drugs or hormones.
