ALTANT programme: alternatives for the use of antibiotics
The agricultural sector still uses very large amounts of antibiotics – too many according to many scientists in the Netherlands and abroad. Their use results in bacteria that are harmful for humans and animals becoming increasingly resistant to treatment. This in turn increases the chance of untreatable disease outbreaks as well as a growing number of zoonoses – diseases transmitted between animals and humans. It is vital that alternative strategies are found to combat infectious bacteriological diseases.
Immuno Valley has installed and manages the research program ALTANT (ALTernatives for ANTibiotics) that targets innovative products instrumental in the reduction of the use of antibiotics in livestock farming.
During the first phase of this program (January 2008 – December 2010), which was made possible by funding through the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, 4 projects were initiated, each covering a different line of development:
- ASIA: targets novel anti-microbial peptides in chickens and pigs
- EVAC: targets a vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus, a major causative agent of bovine mastitis
- MODIPHY: targets phytochemicals that have anti-microbial and immunostimulatory characteristics
- RESUPLYS: targets bacteriophages or their lysinsspecific for Streptococcus suis in pigs
The objective of each of the projects was to reach a proof of potential, which means to demonstrate feasibility (efficacy in vitro and/or in vivo) in a defined infection model or in target animals. We summarized part of the results of the 4 projects in factsheets (comprising non-confidential data).
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality wanted to stimulate product development by investing also for a second term in the two most promising projects. Prerequisite hereby was that suitable industry will participate sharing the risk and benefits of co-developing a product based on the technology raised in these projects.
We are pleased to announce that there is formal agreement on the extension and further investments for 2 of the ALTANT projects, ASIA and EVAC. The veterinary pharmaceutical industry has shown great interest and has begun to actively participate in those two projects. The ALTANT programme is a collaborative effort by Utrecht University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the University Medical Centre Utrecht, Pfizer Animal Health (collaborating in the ASIA project) and MSD Animal Health (collaborating in the EVAC project), coordinated by the Immuno Valley foundation and financed in part by the ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. The total project budget amounts to approximately 18 million Euros, of which half is provided by the industry partners. The parties recently signed the contract for the two projects, which may be able to produce the first alternatives within the next four or five years. For more information about the ALTANT programme, contact Director A.N. Vermeulen at: info@immunovalley.nl, 030-253 1142.