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25 April 2007

16 May 2007

 

Aqua Bounty Technologies

(“Aqua Bounty” or “the Company”)

 

Ready-mix Shrimp IMSTM Emulsion in Beta Testing

 

Aqua Bounty Technologies, Inc. (AIM: ABTX), a biotechnology company focused on enhancing productivity in the aquaculture market, is pleased to announce the development of a new, emulsion-based delivery system for its non-specific immune stimulant, Shrimp IMS. The new formulation is designed to allow direct incorporation of IMS into hatchery feed by end users.

 

Shrimp IMS Emulsion delivers the immune system benefits of IMS in a suspension with salmon and krill oil, attractants, and stabilizers. Beta testing is currently underway in hatcheries in Panama, Mexico, and Indonesia. Initial reports have been favorable.  Shrimp IMS Emulsion addresses several technical barriers that slowed widespread adoption of the first generation product in the shrimp market:

 

  • Formulation of a quality controlled “ready-to-add” IMS eliminates potential sources of error in the preparation of IMS to be added to feed. Currently, clients have to go through several measuring and mixing steps that can diminish product efficacy if done incorrectly.

  • Hatchery operators typically feed a variety of different larval feed brands, to which they can easily mix the Shrimp IMS Emulsion, eliminating the company’s need to fully penetrate the fragmented larval feed sector to deliver IMS through the wide variety of competing products. Shrimp IMS Emulsion represents a practical and efficient vehicle for applying IMS in hatcheries while removing a logistical bottleneck that could have interfered with IMS treatment protocols. Most importantly, the emulsion is more convenient for hatchery personnel to use.

 

  • Pre-treatment of larval shrimp before they are released to grow-out ponds increases the effectiveness of IMS treatment and pre-qualifies prospective clients for the feed-based product form used on production farms.

 

First generation Shrimp IMS is currently approved for commercial use in Mexico and Ecuador. Fifteen field trials are currently underway and nearing completion in five countries to demonstrate the efficacy and favourable cost-benefit performance of Shrimp IMS under local conditions. The product is designed to increase immune response in shrimp by stimulating production of hemocytes that fight infection. 

 

Elliot Entis, Aqua Bounty’s CEO commented:

 

“Our new emulsion product was developed in response to customer feedback and the need for greater flexibility in the larval sector. We are now ready to close the IMS treatment cycle with a choice of delivery systems tailored to producers’ needs.”

 

-ends-

 

 

For further information please contact:

 

Aqua Bounty Technologies
Elliot Entis                                                                                           +1 781 899 7755
Joseph McGonigle                                  
 
Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial 
Daniel de Belder / Amy Rajendran                                                  +44 (0) 20 7861 3232
 
 

Notes to Editors

About Aqua Bounty

The Company is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA with operational divisions in San Diego, California and St. John’s Newfoundland, the headquarters of a wholly owned subsidiary, Aqua Bounty Canada.

Aqua Bounty has launched health and diagnostic products for the prevention and control of shrimp diseases and is developing new products to increase productivity and profitability in commercial fish farming. The Company's integrated approach to aquatic health management means that Aqua Bounty is well positioned to capitalise on the rapidly growing $60 billion per annum aquaculture industry

The Company's leading product, Shrimp IMS, a stimulant for the shrimp immune system, has shown significant benefit to commercial shrimp farmers through the Company's initial marketing in Mexico. Results have indicated that the use of Shrimp IMS treatments has led to an increase in sales for its Mexican distributor, as well as a return of investment of up to $2.5 for every dollar spent on the product by the farmers. Aqua Bounty intends to increase its sales of Shrimp IMS in Mexico while expanding through the Americas and into Asia in 2007.

Aqua Bounty is also developing fast growing strains of breeds of fin fish which grow faster than traditional broodstock, known as AquAdvantageTM fish. This AquAdvantage fish are capable of reducing growth to maturity time by as much as 50 per cent, resulting in substantial productivity gains for commercial fish farmers.

Commercial aquaculture, the controlled cultivation and harvest of aquatic plants and animals, is the most rapidly growing segment of the agricultural industry, accounting for more than $60 billion in sales in 2003. While land-based agriculture is increasing at 2 per cent to 3 per cent per year, aquaculture has been growing at an annual rate of approximately 9 per cent since 1970. (Source: FAO)

Aqua Bounty's strategy is to focus commercialisation initially within the western hemisphere and launch in Asia after penetrating several markets in the Americas. The Company intends to maximize returns on research and development and resulting intellectual property by supplying its products to the aquaculture industry through existing distribution channels. This strategy will enable Aqua Bounty to avoid the significant time and costs associated with developing its own manufacturing, sales and distribution infrastructure

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