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Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today announced that its Chief Veterinary Scientific Officer, Dr. Dragan Rogan, was an invited speaker at the 56th International Meat Industry Conference being held in Tara, Serbia.Dr. Rogan’s presentation was entitled, “Pre-slaughter intervention by vaccination of cattle –new approach to reduce risk of meat contamination by foodborne pathogens, and consequently reduce incidence of human disease and economic burden”. He described E. coli O157, the central role of cattle in disseminating E. coli O157 in meat, produce, water and the environment, and the rationale for the development and implementation of an efficacious pre-harvest vaccination strategy using a fully licensed vaccine (EconicheTM). He highlighted that an on-farm vaccination strategy is one of the best methods to reduce the prevalence of E. coli O157 both within its primary host – cattle - and in the general environment.
E. coli O157 is an Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli or EHEC. EHEC strains consist of a subset of E. coli that have acquired virulence factors and are pathogenic to humans. These are shiga toxin-producing E. coli that can cause haemorrhagic colitis (HC) and haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans.
EconicheTM has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of E. coli O157 shed into the environment by beef and dairy cattle. E. coli O157 does not cause illness in cattle, but cattle are the primary reservoir for it. Vaccination of cattle with EconicheTM can help reduce the risk of food and waterborne contamination with E. coli O157. The Company has been actively exploring opportunities to introduce EconicheTM to markets beyond North America, where it has a full license in Canada and a pending conditional license in the U.S.
There is a significant amount of international attention currently refocusing on the danger presented by EHEC. A new strain – O104:H4 – was identified as the causative organism of a massive outbreak in Germany in recent weeks that sickened more than 3,000 people and caused 35 deaths. “Although the Bioniche vaccine targets the O157 serotype of E. coli, other serotypes causing human infection appear to have similar attachment mechanisms to O157, and Bioniche believes that EconicheTM may provide cross-protection against other serotypes,” said Dr. Dragan Rogan, Chief Veterinary Scientific Officer at Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. “Researchers at Bioniche are currently working to confirm the extent to which such cross-protection may exist.”
Bioniche, in collaboration with Dr. Brett Finlay, University of British Columbia, and the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization developed and fully licensed Econiche™ for use in healthy cattle. The vaccine has been shown to reduce the shedding of E. coli O157 in cattle. The vaccine targets the type III secretory system (TTSS), which is essential for E. coli O157 attachment in the recto anal junction of cattle.
Controlled challenge studies demonstrate that vaccinating cattle with Econiche™ results in:
1. 99.5% reduction in the number of bacteria shed in feces;EconicheTM will be manufactured in the Company’s newly completed Animal Health and Food Safety Vaccine Manufacturing Centre in Belleville, Ontario, currently undergoing validation and commissioning. Full production in the new Centre is expected to begin by the fall of 2011.
2. 71% reduction in the proportion of animals shedding;
3. 64% reduction in duration of shedding; and
4. Reduction in the number of days that bacteria are shed in feces.
Bioniche Life Sciences Inc.
