MIXSCIENCE’s First EU Feed Additive Authorisation Brings Biocontrol to the Fight Against Salmonella – INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES

In Q1 of this year, French animal nutrition firm miXscience, part of the Avril Group, obtained its first EU feed additive authorisation, a landmark achievement for the company, which had previously made its mark in the premix and proprietary feed ingredients space. Its new microorganism-based Salmonella control solution, incorporating four bacterial strains, will be marketed under the product name NOLIBAC BL.

Today, we hear from miXscience’s Murielle Galais, product manager for biocontrol; Michel Layus, director of the innovative feed solutions and biocontrol product line; and Véronique Noël, marketing director, about how NOLIBAC BL builds on the company’s years of expertise in biocontrol in other applications, about what entering the feed additives category means for the company’s strategy, and about what’s next for its innovation efforts in the animal nutrition and health space.  

[Feedinfo] What is NOLIBAC BL and how does it work to reduce Salmonella Typhimurium contamination in feed? For what species is this important?

[Murielle Galais] NOLIBAC BL is a biocontrol solution based on a unique combination of bacteria with synergistic and complementary actions, intended to improve the bacteriological quality of feed.  By improving feed hygiene, this most recent innovation of miXscience helps to better control health risks in livestock farming.

Feed contamination by Salmonella is a major and growing problem which affects all livestock animal species and leads not only to problems with the quality of the final products but also to issues with animals. With NOLIBAC BL, miXscience is offering a unique solution to the market which meets the needs of the sector to manage health risks in farms with sustainable alternative solutions.

[Feedinfo] NOLIBAC BL is being launched under your Nolivade range of biocontrol solutions. Can you introduce the concept of “biocontrol”?

[Murielle Galais] Biocontrol is a well-known and well-established concept in plant nutrition which also holds huge potential for animal production. What we call “biocontrol” is based around the use of live organisms and the promotion and management of balanced microbial ecosystems, in order to protect animal health and welfare and develop sustainable livestock production.

NOLIBAC BL is part of a global approach of biocontrol in farms that we have been bringing to the market for several years with the Nolivade range of products. Our unique selling point is the ability to propose multi-strain products combined with different applications: by ingestion in the feed or in the water and/or by spraying in the environment of the animals.

From our understanding of both bacteria and farm management, miXscience has developed robust skills and our own know how, establishing ourselves as a hub of biocontrol expertise.  

[Feedinfo] What are some of the different applications that Nolivade products are able to solve? In what markets are they being sold?

[Murielle Galais] miXscience develops microorganism-based products under the brand Nolivade. Within the Nolivade range, there is a complete offer of patented microorganism-based biocontrol solutions for animal farming, designed for ruminant, pig, poultry, aquaculture, and even insects.

As the biocontrol approach requires a consideration of all microbiota, the Nolivade portfolio spans different products such as barrier flora solutions (hygiene market) and probiotics (feed market). miXscience bacteria are combined to offer solutions for different applications.

In feed, within our biotoxins degradation range MULTIPROTECT, some of our solutions are enriched by the addition of Nolivade bacteria, which are able to degrade some mycotoxins.

In dairy farms, lameness is a major threat to the welfare of cattle, farmers and the profitability of cattle farms. To meet today's societal expectations of a reduction in the use of chemical agents in animal husbandry, Nolivade offers a solution called NOLIFEET. Marketed for many years, NOLIFEET is a bacterial spray solution to manage the negative impact of lameness in ruminants, with proven and effective results.

Furthermore, one of the major global challenges today is the fight against the development of antibiotic resistance. At miXscience, we know that considering all microbiota both around and within the animal is essential. That is why for poultry, swine or aquaculture systems, we are offering dedicated protocols that combine the application of an environmental flora with ingested bacteria (probiotics) to support health management.

To conclude, these solutions have proven themselves in livestock as well as in aquaculture in many different regions of the world.

[Feedinfo] NOLIBAC’s recent approval is in fact miXscience’s first EU market authorisation for a feed additive. How important is this milestone for the company? Does this represent something of a strategic shift for miXscience? Or do you see it as simply an extension of your work in premix and feed ingredients?

[Michel Layus] This first authorisation in the European Union represents the culmination of several years of R&D expanding our understanding of field issues and of our strains. With this approval we have reached a key milestone planned for several years in our strategic agenda.

miXscience is therefore proud to join the club of additive companies – and in the category of microorganisms, which is not the simplest of fields. This recognition by the European authorities of the safety and efficacy of our products is obviously the best message we can give to our partner customers and the market.

[Feedinfo] As part of the Avril Group, miXscience is able to collaborate closely with sister companies such as Sanders or Oleon. Can you explain how these collaborations ultimately benefit your customers?

[Véronique Noël] Oleon, as a supplier of natural ingredients, and Sanders, as a manufacturer of compound feeds, are positioned at two different ends of the animal nutrition value chain. miXscience lies between the two.

Thanks to this in-house sourcing, we are able to create tailor-made solutions combining different fatty acids with appropriate technology such as esterification to target different groups of species-specific pathogens. For example, this synergistic collaboration has enabled us to develop the LUMIGARD MOST solution after 5 years of joint development.

Meanwhile, via our primary customer Sanders, one of the top 10 feed producers in Europe with 3.4 million tonnes of complete feed produced each year, we have a direct connection with farmers. Thanks to this proximity we can offer our customers robust and field-proven products. It gives us also the opportunity to fine-tune our products’ applications for every species and define the best conditions to express the full potential of our solutions.

Historical products like LUMIGARD TCB (gut regulator for poultry) or VALOPRO (solution to improve feed efficiency for ruminants) developed in close partnership with Sanders are now used in different parts of the world, for example having reached big integrators in Brazil.

[Feedinfo] Alongside its microorganism and oleo-based actives, miXscience also does a lot of work on proprietary ingredients. In this context, you consider your development of Vstar to be particularly critical. Can you tell us more about that technology?

[Michel Layus] To address the problems of animal production, we need suitable ingredients and applications. We are convinced that manufacturing technology is key to enhancing our solutions by protecting them and ensuring they can be evenly distributed throughout the feed, to deliver the right dose to the animal, at the right time, in the right place.

miXscience products which bear the Vstar label are equipped with such technologies, which we have mastered after almost 10 years of work and which apply to all types of ingredients depending on the functionality sought. Whereas some people might interpret “proprietary ingredients” to mean simply packaging an ingredient or providing basic levels of standardisation, miXscience’s investment on proprietary ingredients has gone well beyond that, developing highly refined technologies to deliver the most value to our customers.

[Feedinfo] What’s next for miXscience? What should the market be expecting from you over the next few years?

[Véronique Noël] Globally, the animal nutrition and health market is still looking to address issues of competitiveness, performance, and environmental concerns. These 3 focus areas, and especially the environment piece with the climate issue, are now relevant in every region of the world.

Our commitment is to support our customers in their willingness to reduce their carbon footprint. In that regard we are continuing our investment to develop global solutions for decarbonization.

One pillar of our decarbonisation offer is MatriCIEL, a tool to measure the environmental footprint of the feed from its production to the farm using 7 indicators (climate change, eutrophication, land use, etc.) Following a critical review, the consulting company Carbone 4 concluded that the approach was "robust, solidly sourced and consistent with carbon accounting methodologies". MatriCIEL complies with the European PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) framework.

For poultry, miXscience's research has made it possible to reduce crude protein by 1 to 2 points and to diversify the protein sources of poultry feed, thereby reducing the carbon footprint associated with imported soya meal and oil. In addition, we confirm that nutritional modelling, combined with our solution LUMIGARD TCB, are real levers for improving feed efficiency in poultry.

In ruminants, we are now investigating different solutions to address the methane emission problem. Avril Group is providing significant support in this area.

Published in association with miXscience