Collaboration with Canada's National Research Council combats bacterial health threats without antibiotics

Indianapolis, IN - November 19, 2003

Dow AgroSciences has obtained worldwide licensing rights from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to market technologies that reduce the risk of food-borne pathogens. The agreement gives the company exclusive rights to specific antibody technologies that are being developed under a 2001 collaborative agreement between Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc. (DAS) and NRC’s Institute for Biological Sciences (NRC-IBS) in Ottawa, Canada.

The collaboration already has developed inventions that hold great promise in combating two of the most common and challenging food-related health threats, E. coli O157:H7 in cattle and Campylobacter jejuni in poultry. These pathogens occur normally in the animals’ digestive systems and only become problematic when they find their way into the human food chain.   Researchers at NRC-IBS and DAS have been developing new ways to attack these pathogens at the source, without the use of traditional antibiotics.

The collaboration has developed antibodies, which, when administered to the livestock, would attach to the pathogens within the animals’ bodies. This technology holds great promise to clear or greatly reduce the pathogen load prior to slaughter. The antibodies will be produced in plants, which could be administered either in the feed or extracted from the plant and administered orally.

The antibodies have significant advantages over antibiotic injections, said Dr. Roger MacKenzie, the project's senior researcher at NRC-IBS. “Chemical based antibiotics attack more than the target organism, and their administration can result in unexpected and undesirable side effects,” he said. “Our approach is to develop strategies to interfere with the organisms’ ability to flourish and multiply by targeting unique molecular features of the pathogens.”

The license agreement commits the partners to developing and commercializing these technologies along a track that will maximize the benefits of the new discoveries.

“We are working together to bring new technologies to address food safety issues that are of great concern to consumers,” said Butch Mercer, Global Business Leader, Animal Health and Nutrition for Dow  AgroSciences.  “NRC-IBS is a recognized world leader in antibody engineering and bacterial pathogens. And Dow AgroSciences is among the leaders in plant transformation technology. So it only makes sense that we should partner.”

Recognized globally for research and innovation, Canada's National Research Council (NRC) is a leader in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for Canada through science and technology.  Celebrating 75 years of research excellence, the NRC Institute for Biological Sciences is focused on innovative research of interest to the health care and pharmaceutical sectors. 

Dow AgroSciences is a global leader in providing pest management and biotechnology products that improve the quality and quantity of the earth's food supply and contribute to the health and quality of life of the world's growing population.

For Editorial Information:

Nathalie Gour
NRC Institute for Biological Sciences
(613) 990-6091
nathalie.gour@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Robyn Heine
Dow AgroSciences LLC
(317) 337-4807
rheine@dow.com