UPM and Biolife sign MOA to market UPM's R&D technology

The latest breakthrough from UPM is a Recombinant Vaccine for Mannheimiosis, a vaccine that provides a broad protection against pneumonia in goats and sheep caused by Mannheimia haemolytica.

25 May 2007 (Friday) - UPM formed its latest partnership with an MOA signing ceremony between UPM and ST Biolife Sdn. Bhd. (769346-K) to commercialize UPM’s R&D technology that was being held on 25 May 2007 at Dewan Taklimat, 1st Floor, Main Administration Building, UPM.

YBhg. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah, UPM Vice Chancellor, said in his speech, “The gathering here today is to mark a significant event that is the result of almost one year of negotiations with Biolife Group Ltd. To be precise there were 18 meetings between the officers from Biolife Group Ltd. and Innovation and Commercialization Centre (ICC).“

He added, “And today with much pleasure I wish to announce the birth of a new spin off company, Biolife Sdn Bhd, that has agreed to market a world class technology that is worth a few million Ringgit. In addition to the purchase price of RM4 million, Biolife Sdn Bhd will allocate 25% equity for the researcher involved and the University. This is certainly an excellent smart partnership between UPM and Biolife, and I believe this is the first of its kind in Malaysia.”

The latest breakthrough from UPM is a Recombinant Vaccine for Mannheimiosis, a vaccine that provides a broad protection against pneumonia in goats and sheep caused by Mannheimia haemolytica. It is a recombinant vaccine against pneumonic mannhemiosis, a disease affecting the respiratory tract of sheep and goats. The disease is a respiratory disease that is extremely difficult to control. It causes great economic losses to the livestock industry all over the world. The inventor of this vaccine is Prof. Dr. Mohd. Zamri bin Saad from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UPM.

The vaccination is conducted by spraying into the mucosal site / nose of the animals and has been shown to stimulate the mucosal immunity of the respiratory tract ie; the lung is at all times protected from bacterial infection. Vaccination with this recombinant vaccine has been proven to reduce mortality by between 95%-98%. This is different from the conventional injection-based vaccines that stimulate systemic immunity. Other advantages of this vaccine against the injection-based vaccines include:

• Shortened vaccination period by as much as 80%
• Ease of vaccine administration
• Minimal handling of animals – no stress to animals and handlers
• Painless and causes no local reaction
• Meat quality not affected

The signing ceremony was organized by the Innovation and Commercialization Centre (ICC) and the Division of Corporate Communication, UPM.

In the MOA, both parties have agreed as follow:

1) Outright purchase of the recombinant vaccine from UPM;
2) UPM and the Inventor shall be allocated equity participation in ST Biolife Sdn. Bhd. at no cost;
3) Inventor shall be appointed as consultant to ST Biolife Sdn. Bhd.; and
4) ST Biolife Sdn. Bhd. shall appoint the inventor to conduct clinical trials in two of the following countries; Australia, New Zealand, Russia and/or United States of America.

ST Biolife Sdn. Bhd., an associate company of Fedtec Sdn. Bhd., is a Malaysian-based company that specializes in the commercialization of certified reference material and herbal extracts. The company also manufactures, markets and distributes products for the global markets through its associate and extensive network of distributors. ST Biolife Sdn. Bhd. is looking to promote the vaccine to the Malaysian market the soonest possible and subsequently the Indonesian and China markets. The company will also be commencing clinical trials in at least 2 countries (Australia, USA, New Zealand or Russia) during the 2nd half of this year. Plans are also in the pipeline to expand the distribution network to incorporate major Asian countries, the African continent and the Middle East Countries.

For further information about the product, kindly contact:

Tel: +603 89468282
Fax: +603 89486317
E-mail: [email protected]

For further information about the commercialization, kindly contact:

Tel: +603 89472055/2058
Fax: +603 89472059
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.icc.upm.edu.my

Published: 01 Jun 2007

Contact details:

Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) 43400 UPM Serdang Selangor Malaysia

+603 8947 1622
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