An Irish biotechnology company is to lead a €1.7 million research project aimed at validating natural alternatives to the use of in-feed growth-promoting antibiotics.
BioAtlantis will head up the consortium of European firms and universities, attempting to validate four natural alternatives that could help cut the incidence of diseases such as salmonella and E.coli.
The practice of using in-feed growth-promoting antibiotics to control diseases and enhance productivity on farms was banned by the EU in 2006.
The biotech firm, which is a Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Fund II portfolio company, has carried out several years of research in collaboration with the agriculture and food science centre at University College Dublin.
BioAtlantis specialises in the research, development and manufacture of plant biostimulants and animal prebiotics using molecules derived from seaweeds and other renewable resources.
It currently employs 15 people and has sales in 35 countries.
