here is the "news":Bioniche Hosts Veterinarians and Food Industry Reps at Two-Day E. coli O157:H7 Vaccine Conference
BELLEVILLE, ON, Jun 27, 2008 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX News Network) --
- guest speakers included a World Health Organization expert on E. coli -
BionicheLife Sciences Inc. (TSX: BNC), a research-based, technology-drivenCanadian biopharmaceutical company, hosted a two-day conference inToronto this week entitled, "E. coli O157 Vaccine: Added Value or AddedCost". The audience included veterinarians and representatives from thefood industry: Beef, dairy, and other agricultural commodity producers.
Guest speakers included Dr. David Biesenthal, a veterinarian inWalkerton, Ontario whose cattle farm was one of those implicated in thetown's water contamination with E. coli O157:H7 in 2000. Dr. Biesenthalis one of the first adopters of a vaccination program using theBioniche E. coli O157:H7 cattle vaccine. "Vaccination of all cattlecould help reduce the opportunity for another incident like the onethat occurred in Walkerton and would demonstrate due diligence," hesaid.
Kevin Grier, Senior Market Analyst with the George MorrisCentre in Guelph, Ontario presented data from an economic cost-benefitanalysis completed for Bioniche related to the vaccine. The analysisconcluded that there is a potential $2 saved for every $1 spent onvaccination of the Canadian cattle herd. An executive summary of thereport is available on the website www.fightecoli.com.
Dr. JohnFairbrother, Director of the Reference Laboratory for Escherichia coli(E. coli) at the University of Montreal discussed a variety ofpotential intervention strategies to address on-farm contamination withE. coli. He concluded that an optimal strategy is a global approach,using combined intervention strategies to improve food safety. Dr.Fairbrother was named as World Health Organization expert on E. coli in2006.
Dr. David Smith, Professor and Extension Dairy/BeefVeterinarian in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences atthe University of Nebraska-Lincoln summarized the results of fieldstudies with the Bioniche vaccine at university feedlots over the lastsix years. He noted that the Bioniche vaccine fulfils the expectationsof an efficacious vaccine.
Another guest speaker was Dr. GuyLoneragan, Associate Professor, Agriculture Sciences and Epidemiologistin the Feedlot Research Group at West Texas A&M University. Dr.Loneragan discussed his analysis of the applied interventions againstE. coli O157:H7 in real-world studies, as well as peer-reviewedpublications. In response to the question, "How much intervention isenough?", Dr. Loneragan said, "If we knew the pathogen threshold levelin meat processing plants - the acceptable level that meat processingand packing facilities can handle with internal interventions - wecould easily assess the efficacy required of a pre-harvestintervention. Unfortunately, this threshold is yet to be well-defined.That said, however, the vaccine intervention appears to changesummertime shedding patterns into winter-type patterns. Empirical datafrom human health tells us this change is important. I believe thatvaccine technology probably has the broadest application and is themost widely implementable."
Dr. Doug Powell, AssociateProfessor in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology atKansas State University, discussed the need to create a food safetyculture, from farm-to-fork, 24/7. He emphasized that risk reductionstrategies are key to ensuring food safety. "The Bioniche vaccine is atechnology to reduce risk. Any tool you can provide for risk reductionwill help."
"We are pleased with the level of interest in ourvaccine on the part of veterinarians, researchers and the foodindustry," said Rick Culbert, President of Bioniche Food Safety. "Weare in an awareness building phase, whereby we are introducing varioussegments of the food industry to both our vaccine and the impact of E.coli O157:H7 on human health."
Bioniche has developed theworld's first cattle vaccine that may be used as an on-farmintervention to reduce the amount of E. coli O157:H7 shed by cattle.This will be the first product manufactured in the scaled-up productionfacility being developed in Belleville, Ontario. The vaccine is uniquein that it helps to reduce shedding of an organism that, whilepotentially lethal to humans, causes no disease in cattle. The Companyobtained approval to distribute its vaccine under the Permit to ReleaseVeterinary Biologics regulations by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency(CFIA) in December, 2006. In February of this year, the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture (USDA) granted eligibility for conditionallicensing of the vaccine.
It remains very clear that there is apressing need to reduce the amount of E. coli O157:H7 shed into theenvironment by cattle. Food recalls continue to occur on a regularbasis in beef, produce and prepared food. On-farm interventions toreduce the shedding of E. coli O157:H7 by cattle, such as vaccination,may assist in reducing the potential for food and water contaminationand the resulting human illnesses and deaths.
Approximately100,000 cases of human infection with the E. coli O157:H7 organism arereported each year in North America. 2% to 7% of those people develophemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease characterized by kidneyfailure (in recent outbreaks, this percentage has risen to as high as16%). Five percent of HUS patients die, many of them children andsenior citizens, whose kidneys are more sensitive to damage.
Beyondconsumption of contaminated food or water, individuals can becomeinfected from E. coli O157:H7 by visiting animal exhibits. Pettingzoos, fairs, and agricultural exhibits provide many possible routes oftransmission for E. coli. Direct animal contact is the obvious route,but contact with contaminated products (e.g., sawdust, shavings, soiledclothing or shoes) can also lead to human infection.
About the E. coli O157:H7 Cattle Vaccine
Thisvaccine received international recognition in September, 2007 by theAnimal Pharm Industry Excellence Awards as the best new veterinaryproduct for livestock globally. The vaccine has been developed by astrategic alliance formed in 2000 between the University of BritishColumbia (UBC), the Alberta Research Council (ARC), the University ofSaskatchewan's Vaccine & Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO),and Bioniche, which holds the rights for worldwide commercialization ofthe vaccine. The vaccine prevents the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria fromattaching to the intestines of vaccinated cattle, thereby reducingtheir reproduction within the animal, and reducing the amount ofbacteria that can be released through cattle manure in the environment.More than 30,000 cattle have been involved in clinical testing of thevaccine over the past five years.
About Bioniche Life Sciences Inc.
BionicheLife Sciences Inc. is a research-based, technology-driven Canadianbiopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development,manufacturing, and marketing of proprietary products for human andanimal health markets worldwide. The fully-integrated company employsapproximately 200 skilled personnel and has three operating divisions:Human Health, Animal Health, and Food Safety. The Company's primarygoal is to develop proprietary cancer therapies supported by revenuesfrom marketed products in human and animal health. Bioniche has beennamed one of Canada's Top Ten Life Sciences Companies for 2008. Formore information, please visit www.Bioniche.com.
Except forhistorical information, this news release may contain forward-lookingstatements that reflect the Company's current expectation regardingfuture events. These forward-looking statements involve risk anduncertainties, which may cause, but are not limited to, changing marketconditions, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies,the establishment of corporate alliances, the impact of competitiveproducts and pricing, new product development, uncertainties related tothe regulatory approval process, and other risks detailed from time totime in the Company's ongoing quarterly and annual reporting.
SOURCE: Bioniche Life Sciences Inc.