Anadis to supply nutraceutical to Chinese military

Melbourne biotech Anadis Limited (ASX:ANX) has announced the first sale to China of its bovine colostrum-based nutraceutical – a 3-tonne consignment destined to be used as a health food by the Chinese military and other agencies, to build immunity to enteric diseases.

Anadis’ General Manager Steve Skorobogarty says the sale to China is evidence of that the company’s powdered colostrum extract is being recognised in Asia as the premium product of its type.

Skorobogarty says Anadis’ product differs from its rivals because its raw-materials supplier, Tatura Milk Industries, uses only first-milking colostrum from immunised dairy cows, to ensure it contains maximum levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and growth factors.

Rival products exploit the fact that food and health authorities define milk from as late as the fifth milking as “colostrum”. Some companies further dilute their products with powdered skim milk, and label it as “colostrum”.

Skorobogarty says China is “particularly open” for novel health-food products, and says Anadis is expects further sales.

He says Anadis is entering “exciting times”. Health authorities in Taiwan are taking a keen interest in the results of animal trials of a specialised colostrum extract to protect children against Enterovirus 71, a polio-like virus that causes a debilitating infection called hand foot and mouth disease.

The most recent outbreak in Taiwan infected 4.5 million children, resulting in 1100 deaths, and leaving thousands more children with chronic symptoms, including slack facial muscles and weakness of the muscles of the hands and feet.

The US Military is also taking a keen interest in a colostrum extract that could be used to shield the respiratory tract against biowarfare agents such as anthrax and the plague virus.

Anadis is planning the Australian launch next month of its new traveller’s diarrhoea preventative, Travelan, a tablet containing antibodies to common pathogenic strains of E. coli from around the world.

ENDS