who will it be cmq imu or bdm ?

Animal Feed Enhancer (BDM-I)

BDM-I is a synthetic antimicrobial compound being developed as a substitute for the use of human antibiotics as growth promoters in intensively reared animals.

Over recent years there has been increasing concern over the use of human antibiotics as additions to animal feed.

The FDA is proposing to withdraw a class of antibiotics used in the US as growth promoters in chickens and turkeys, because of concerns that their use has led to small quantities of antibiotics in edible tissues entering the human food chain resulting in the development of antibiotic resistant forms of human bacterial pathogens.

Features and benefits of BDM-I

BDM-I is a synthetic antimicrobial compound that is effective in vitro against a range of significant bacteria, fungi and protozoa. In studies funded by BioDiem and conducted at RMIT University, oral administration of BDM-I was shown to be effective in reducing Campylobacter jejuni colonisation in chicks. Furthermore, BDM-I was also shown to produce significant additional weight gain relative to controls.

The limited future use of human antibiotics as animal feed enhancers has generated a need for effective substitutes that will not promote antibiotic resistant micro-organisms. BDM-I possesses several characteristics that may position it as an effective substitute including:

1. In laboratory tests to date, resistance to BDM-I from tested pathogens has not developed.
2. It has not been used in humans.
3. It is poorly absorbed from the chicken gut into the edible tissues.

In addition to the above, BDM-I may meet further industry requirements including:

controlling necrotic enteritis, due to infection with Clostridium perfringens. While not a common infection, when it occurs it can cause catastrophic losses. BDM-I is effective in vitro against Clostridium perfringens and it is intended to further investigate this promising role; and
controlling Coccidiosis, a devastating disease caused by the protozoan Eimeria species. BDM-I is known to be effective against some other protozoa and will be tested against Eimeria.
Target Markets

In Australia there are about 200 million broilers produced each year. In the US the annual figure is closer to eight billion broilers per year, typically under intensively reared conditions, where disease control and the speed at which chicks can put on weight are prime economic concerns. Of the total US$6 billion dollar feed additive market, antibiotic performance enhancers (for all types of livestock) are estimated to represent US$950m. Disease preventing agents, including coccidiostats, primarily used in poultry, are valued at US$480m.

Milestones

In general, the development of an animal feed additive, such as BDM-I, is likely to provide a faster route to market than for human pharmaceutical products such as LAIV and BDM-E.

BioDiem is currently conducting a field trial in broiler chickens to test the efficacy of BDM-I as a nutritional enhancer and pathogen inhibitor. This trial will also investigate tissue residues and any environmental impact.

BioDiem intends to involve international partners with existing strong positions in the medicated animal feed business to manufacture and market BDM I.

Intellectual Property
BioDiem has acquired all global rights to BDM-I from the IEM under a commercialisation agreement.