Bioniche to sell equine probiotic

Bioniche (ASX:BNC) is continuing to build up its animal health product portfolio, signing a deal to allow it to distribute an equine probiotic.

The company has signed a distribution deal with US-based veterinary pharmaceutical company Imagilin Technology, covering the MitoHorse formulation.

MitoHorse is the equine variant of Imagilin's MitoMax probiotic line, optimised for the long GI tract of horses and ponies.

MitoMax products are formulations of beneficial microorganisms Pediococcus acidilactici and Saccharomyces boulardii, both of which are naturally occurring in animal and human intestines.

The equine version is designed to balance the intestinal systems in horses and ponies, to boost immunoregulatory responses to illness and inflammation.

Horses under stress due to environmental changes often develop digestive disorders and weakened immune systems in response, and experimental studies suggest MitoHorse can help mitigate these effects.

Bioniche global president for animal health Andrew Grant said MitoHorse complements the company's existing line of equine feed supplements, as well as a recently-launched GI mucosal protectant that promotes self-healing of equine gastric ulcer syndrome.

It has been an eventful month for Bioniche's animal health division. Last week, a UK government department issued a special certificate allowing veterinarians to import the company's cattle vaccine against E. coli O157 bacteria.

At the start of August, the company published early results from research into using in-licensed recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFSH) technology to develop an entirely synthetic FSH product to boost fertility rates in cows.

Days earlier, Bioniche revealed that US and Canadian regulators had approved one of the two canine cancer treatments in its product pipeline.

Bioniche (ASX:BNC) shares were trading 6.31% higher at $0.590 as of around 2:30pm on Monday, following a 7.5% decline last Friday.