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Last updated Monday, Mar. 30, 2009 Shares in Belleville, Ont. based Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. jumped sharply Tuesday after the company said it was told by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that its E. coli vaccine for cattle may qualify for a conditional license in the United States. The stock leapt more than 50 per cent in late morning trading to above $1.30, before settling back in the $1.20 range. The USDA told Bioniche that the vaccine is eligible for a conditional license, as long as the company develops a plan that would collect enough data to move to a full license. If it gets a conditional licence, Bioniche would have full access to the U.S. market, as long as at least one step in the manufacturing process is performed south of the border, and the company doesn't use a trademark name for the vaccine. Bioniche chief executive officer Graeme McRae said the notice from the USDA is a "large step forward" in getting access to the 97 million cattle in the United States A little over a year ago Bioniche got interim approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to sell the vaccine in Canada. With that interim licence, Bioniche has been able to sell through veterinarians who specifically ask for the vaccine and sign a waver acknowledging that they know it has yet to get a full licence. Bioniche is expanding its Belleville manufacturing plant to handle production of the vaccine. The vaccine is designed to eliminate most E. coli bacteria from cattle manure.