Solution Providers
Three enterprises in THRIVE-RITE have developed novel products which enhance animal health, performance and immunity, as demonstrated in numerous peer-reviewed publications. The products contain high concentrations of bioactive compounds, extracted from natural resources.
| Enterprise (Country) | Product |
|---|---|
| BioAtlantis Ltd (Ireland) Clasado Ingredients Ltd. (Malta) Drobex- Agro Sp. Z O.O. (Poland) |
LactoShield® and NeoShield® Bi2tos Lupin oligoscacharrides |
Validation Stage 1: Four Academic institutions will test the efficacy of these products under challenge situations. Their collective expertise are: virology, microbiology, immunology, meat quality and in ovo technology. They will work independently covering both academic and commercial validation of products. The Academic institutions are:
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast (UK)
- University College Dublin (Ireland)
- University of Molise (Italy)
- University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz (Poland)
Validation Stage 2: Two commercial enterprises in THRIVE-RITE have developed ultra-modern animal production facilities. This allows for commercial scale validation of the findings arising from academic trials. This work will be supervised by the Academic institutions at the following facilities:
For further information on the validation process, click here: Scientific Validation
For further information on the solution providers, please see below:
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast (UK)
- BioAtlantis Ltd (Ireland)
- Clasado Ingredients Ltd. (Malta)
- Drobex- Agro Sp. Z O.O. (Poland)
- Truly Irish Country Foods Ltd. (Ireland)
- University College Dublin (Ireland)
- University of Molise (Italy)
- University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz (Poland)
Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast
(AFBI, UK; http://www.afbini.gov.uk/)
The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), is a leading provider of scientific research and services to government, non-governmental and commercial organisations. The Virology Branch at Veterinary Sciences Division (VSD) is located at Stoney Road, Stormont, Belfast. The Stormont laboratory site covers some 24 hectares. It comprised of a range of scientific laboratories including CL-2 and CL-3 laboratories, animal accommodation and a farm. Approximately 275 scientific, administrative and other support staff is employed at the Stormont site. The function of Virology Branch is to maintain and improve the skills and expertise base required to diagnose and control outbreaks of virus diseases, in support of DARD policy objectives aimed at improving the health and welfare of N. Ireland livestock. In addition the Branch provides expertise, advice to DARD, to the agri-food industry in N. Ireland and associated customer groups, in all aspects of veterinary virology. The Branch has an excellent range of skills and expertise in virus growth and detection in cells and tissues, molecular virology and virus and vaccine immunology, and carries out research aimed at improving the diagnosis and control of virus diseases of animals. This work includes studies to develop or improve diagnostics for a range of virus infections; to develop or improve vaccines for the control of virus diseases; to provide new information on disease pathogenesis in order to improve control methodologies; and to investigate new disease syndromes of potential viral etiology with the aim of providing new diagnostics and control measures. The branch has extensive international collaborations and a proven track record in diagnostic test and vaccine development. Much of the research is part externally funded by commercial enterprises, research councils, and the EU or consumer groups. AFBI VSD has participated in an extensive range of national and international collaborative research projects. AFBI have a key role in THRIVE-RITE in the scientific validation of bioactive efficacy against viral pathogenic infections.
BioAtlantis Ltd is a biotechnology company which provides solutions to problems caused by stresses in plants, animals and humans. At the forefront of the company's recent growth and rapid expansion into worldwide markets, is the pursuit of scientific excellence. As such, BioAtlantis Ltd. work with several of the leading universities across the world isolating key functional molecules from natural resources and validating their functionality and effectiveness for use in solving problems facing modern agriculture and healthcare. As part of its expansion, BioAtlantis Ltd. must build on its already strong scientific platform. As leaders of the THRIVE-RITE consortium, BioAtlantis Ltd. will oversee and manage the project, while also providing products for evaluation, including LactoShield® and NeoShield®. The effectiveness of LactoShield® and NeoShield® will be assessed in challenge situations (E.coli,Salmonella and PCV-2 viral infection), under direct, maternal and in ovo application.
Clasado Ltd. are a company developing products which are aimed at revolutionising the concept of 'healthy eating for all', an extension of the proven concept of general health being linked to the digestive system and diet. Over the last ten years, research has focused on the method for ensuring that the 'beneficial' bacteria already present within the gut grow at a much faster rate than the 'harmful' bacteria and so maintain a positive gut balance. Through this, Clasado has developed a novel product, classed as a second generation galactooligosaccharide (GOS) prebiotic which acts as a specific food (prebiotic) for the 'beneficial' bacteria. The formulation for animal use (Bi²tos) is currently under development by Clasado and will be tested in THRIVE-RITE.
Is a part of Dorbex poultry integration ranked among the leading poultry producers in Poland, focusing strongly on the generation of products focused on safety and quality. Drobex-Agro is a broiler hatchery and consists of breeder broiler farms, hatchery and feed mills). Emphasis is placed production and hatching of one day old broiler chicks. At present Drobex-Agro cooperate with six big breeder broiler farms for purchasing eggs and deliver day old chick to over fifty broiler farms all over Poland and occasionally outside Poland. Drobex-Agro currently sells over 20,000,000 chicks per year. The majority of the chicks are sold within the integrated system but there have been recent sales to third parties and this is growing rapidly. Drobex-Agro also has a feed mill for broiler breeder feed. The production plant represents a combination of the best of Polish engineering with Western technology. It is one of the most advanced facilities of its type in Poland and meets all standards of the European Union. Facilities are fully automated
Truly Irish is a leading producer of high quality food in Ireland. It consists of 80 shareholders all of whom are key pig producers. The company produces approximately 20,000 pigs for slaughter per week or 1M pigs per annum. Approximately 2000 pigs per week or 100,000 are sold through the TIF network. This equates to approximately €8M turnover per annum. Truly Irish represent an important component of the THRIVE-RITE consortium and will have a key role in the functional validation of products on a commercial-scale setting, in terms of animal health and food quality.
UCD is one of the leading universities in Ireland and Europe, with particular strengths in the Natural Sciences. The UCD College of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, Ireland, was formed in 2011 by bringing together the Agriculture and Food Sciences and Veterinary Sciences to create the only academic institution in Ireland that delivers education and research on the complete food chain from initial on farm production through processing to final consumption by the consumer. UCD has managed and participated in a large number of EU projects across a range of topics over the years including the FP6 Project Lipgene http://www.nutrition.org.uk/lipgene and FACET and the FP7 Project Food4me. The university is equipped with cutting-edge equipment and technology platforms located in The Veterinary Sciences Centre (Animal Genomics Laboratories), The Veterinary Public Health & Food Safety Laboratory (category III containment facility), and Proteomic and Cell culture laboratory. The UCD Lyons Research Farm has research facilities for housing weaned pigs and broilers as well as a pig facility for bacterial challenges and surgical facilities for same. Through collaboration with the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, access is available to class 2 challenge facilities for pigs and poultry at Longtown, Clane, Co. Kildare. The animal nutrition laboratory with a total space of 500m2 is based in Lyons, in addition to all the support structures. The laboratory is equipped with two GCs, HPLC, one atomic absorption spectrophotometer, three LECO protein analysers, bomb calorimeters, in-vitro analysis equipment, one NIR, two Rusitecs, two Fibertecs, three Buchi apparatus and a feed manufacturing plant. UCD have a leading role in THRIVE-RITE, in the research, development and validation of products, both on the research farm setting and also in overseeing commercial-scale validation. The research is led by Professor John O'Doherty, Associate Professor of Animal Nutrition. Professor O'Doherty, has a strong background in intensive national and international cooperation. His participation and leadership in research projects is considerable and is focused on cooperation with industry. Total research funding awards to-date amounts to approximately €5.5 million. Professor John O'Doherty has published his research in 149 peer reviewed publications to date in Grade A Journals) and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Animal Science.
The University of Molise (UNIMOL) was founded in 1982. It is composed of 6 Departments involved in research and teaching, whose areas are the following: Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences; Department of Economics, Management, Society and Institutions; Department of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences; Department of Biosciences and Territory; Department of Law; Department of Medicine and Health Sciences. The "Colozza" center for teacher's education offers specializing courses for future high school teachers; the Center Unimol Management is involved in the organization of high professionalization Master courses. The Departments of Medicine and Law are likewise composed of postgraduate professionalizing schools. Both in research and teaching areas the University is active in international programs, among which LLP for students, teachers and staff mobility for study and placement (Erasmus) and adult education, especially in the field of active and European citizenship, intergenerational learning and social inclusion. The University of Molise counts 4 University campuses, 9000 students, 105 PhD students and about 600 among teaching and non- teaching staff. Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, composed by 68 people (professors, researchers, technical and administrative). In the Department there are specialized laboratories, e.g. Meat lab, Milk lab, Animal reproduction lab; Animal welfare lab; Animal nutrition lab, Panel test lab; Molecular biology lab, Electronic microscopic lab, Agronomic lab; Soil lab; Engineering lab, Entomologic lab, Disease plant lab, Physiology plant lab, Biochemistry lab, Microbiology lab. The mission of the Department is to contribute to the development, innovation and transfer of agricultural technologies in the context of models compatible with the maintenance of environmental balance. Prof. Giuseppe Maiorano, vice-director of the Department, was appointed to work in collaboration with UTP in the assessment of meat quality parameters and statistical analysis in THRIVE-RITE Prof. Giuseppe Maiorano, among others, has 25-year experience in the meat quality topic.
The University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz, (UTP) is a multi-profile school of higher education with 60-year-long tradition, the only one in Poland which integrates both the agricultural and technological sciences. UTP offers the educational services in terms of basic and life-long learning studies, including full or part-time of I (BSc, Bachelor in Engineering), II (MSc) and III (doctorate study) degrees. Since 2008, the International Ph.D. program in "Welfare, Biotechnology and Quality of Animal Production" have been developed, in cooperation with Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra and Università degli Studi del Molise in Campobasso. Seven UTP faculties, inter-faculty units and administration employ about 1300 people, 680 of which are academics, including almost 140 professors. The scientific and educational activity is based on co-operation with almost all the domestic universities of technology and agriculture and with many foreign universities and scientific centres. UTP participates in European programs; Socrates/Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, CEEPUS, 6th and 7th EU Framework Program, and it has bilateral agreements with 17 Universities from 11 European countries. UTP plays one of the key roles in THRIVE-RITE, being the provider of the cutting-edge in ovo technology and managing the tasks related to it. The scientific leader is Prof. Marek Bednarczyk, the manager of the Animal Biotechnology Department at the Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology. He has, among others, 20-year experience in developing the idea of injecting the bioactives in ovo in order to constitute the immunity in broiler chickens as early as possible in the life span. He has also significant successes in raising funding for research, as well as in coordinating National and International grants. The other UTP units involved in THRIVE-RITE are Department of Animal Physiology leaded by Prof. Roman Szymeczko and the Subdivision of Histology leaded by Prof. Gabriela Elminowska- Wenda. For the most of studies, the excellent-equipped Faculty Laboratory of Molecular Genetics provides tools enabling complex molecular analyses based on RT-PCR, cell culturing and micromanipulations.
For further information on the validation process, click here: Scientific Validation
