BELLEVILLE, Canada — Bioniche Life Sciences, a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, has announced that Econiche, the world’s first vaccine designed to reduce the shedding by cattle of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7, has received full licensing approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Econiche is now available for unrestricted use by Canadian cattle producers and their veterinarians.
The vaccine has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of E. coli O157 shed into the environment by beef and dairy cattle and, in turn, reduce the risk to human health, the company said.
“Cows carry E. coli O157:H7 but they don’t get sick. Where the disease comes from is people encountering contaminated food or water, usually from cow feces,” said Dr. Brett Finlay, University of British Columbia microbiologist and bacterial diseases expert, whose research led to the development of the vaccine. “If we block the colonization of cows by O157, we basically decrease the number that humans are exposed to, and thus, dropping the disease levels in humans.”
On-farm interventions to reduce the shedding of E. coli O157:H7 by cattle, such as simple vaccination of cattle with Econiche, have the potential to reduce food and water contamination and the consequences associated with human infection with the deadly bacteria. Clinical trials conducted with Econiche have shown a significant reduction in the amount of E. coli shed in the manure of vaccinated cows.
Econiche will be manufactured in the Bioniche production facility in Belleville, Ontario, where a $25 million expansion is taking place, supported by the Ontario and Canadian governments. Vaccine supply will be limited during this manufacturing expansion period.
Bioniche Life Sciences is concurrently working to meet the requirements for a U.S. conditional license for Econiche. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) informed the Company in February of this year that the latest data for Econiche “meets the ‘expectation of efficacy’ standard” and is eligible for a conditional license, providing that the Company develops a plan “that would collect sufficient data to move the product to full licensure.” The conditional license, when granted, will provide the company full access to the U.S. market with two restrictions: At least one step in the manufacturing process must be performed in the United States and Bioniche will not be permitted to use the trademark for the vaccine.