• Avivagen (TSXV:VIV) has announced that their dairy trial of OxC-beta Livestock has produced positive results.
  • The dairy trial demonstrated that the company’s antibiotic alternative is effective against sub-clinical mastitis in cows.
  • The trial was conducted over 42 days at four commercial dairy farms in New Zealand.
  • Avivagen’s share price is up 1.43 per cent, with shares currently trading at $0.71 a share.

Life sciences company Avivagen (VIV) has reported positive and statistically significant results from its recent dairy trial of OxC-beta Livestock. 

Avivagen’s OxC-beta Livestock compound offers an effective and economic alternative to antibiotics currently used in most livestock feeds. 

The company’s recent trial tested to see how effective OxC-beta Livestock would be against sub-clinical mastitis in dairy cows.

According to Avivagen CEO, Kym Anthony, mastitis (breast and udder inflammation) costs U.S dairy producers over $2 billion each year. 

“A non-antibiotic solution for preventing and treating of sub-clinical mastitis has the real-world potential to save billions annually for the global dairy industry,” Anthony said.

The dairy trial was conducted over 42 days, at four commercial dairy farms on the North Island of New Zealand. Veterinary services and research group Cognosco oversaw the trial.

Cows with confirmed sub-clinical mastitis were fed OxC-beta Livestock, or feed with no antibiotics in it.

The cows who ingested OxC-beta Livestock had double the recovery rate of those in the control group. 

The OxC-beta Livestock group also showed a significant reduction in the number of cows whose conditions worsened from sub-clinical mastitis to full clinical mastitis. 

Cognosco’s Managing Director, Scott McDougall, commented on the trial’s results. “We have assessed a number of compounds in terms of their ability to help clear sub-clinical mastitis, and this is the first time we have seen a positive effect,” he said.

Anthony from Avivagen also spoke about the trial:

“These results shows OxC-beta Livestock is a viable and safe alternative for dairy producers in high quality markets like New Zealand and others around the world. 

“This is an important new application of OxC-beta Livestock that can promote both improved physical health in dairy cows, and improved financial health for producers worldwide,” he said.

Avivagen’s share price is up 1.43 per cent, with shares currently trading at $0.71 a share at 1:39pm EST.

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