Plasvacc heads for the fast-track

One of the rare biotech companies with origins in rural Australia, Plasvacc Pty Ltd, is dropping its low-key strategy and moving into fast-track expansion mode.

Plasvacc is investing $1.8 million in laboratory and production facilities in a rural area south-west of Brisbane for its hyperimmunised blood plasma products.

It is also broadening its market reach by introducing five new plasma product types for an expanded range of animals and is exploring the possibility of applying the therapy to human patients in future.

Formerly known as Veterinary Dynamics Australia, Plasvacc helped pioneer the use of plasma therapy for animals in Australia in the past few years.

The therapy treats animals with blood plasma products containing heightened levels of antibodies. By judiciously selecting antibodies that target specific infections, the treatments can supplement the animal's own immune response system and speed recovery.

The therapy was originally developed to combat a life-threatening condition for newborn foals but has grown to other diseases in horses and other animal species.

Plasvacc has been engaged in a deliberately cautious development of the market since 1996. It now claims to be the sole commercial supplier of plasma for veterinary use in Australia and believes the time is ripe for a more aggressive approach.

Over the next 18 months it will add five new products to treat infections in horses, cattle and dogs to its existing offerings, Equiplas for horses and Camelplas for camels and alpacas.

It already exports to New Zealand, Dubai and Malaysia and is eyeing other overseas markets.

To finance the moves, Plasvacc has raised more than $1 million, much of it in directors' equity but including a $233,000 Dairy Regional Assistance grant from the Department of Transport and Regional Services.

It has purchased a 200ha property near Kalgar, about 80km south-west of Brisbane, to accommodate special donor herds from which the hyperimmunised plasma is collected. Lab and production facilities will also be sited there.

"From the business point of view, there is no need for us to be in the city," said director Andrew Macarthur. "We are funding research at the University of Southern Queensland but we are committed to maintaining facilities in a rural area."

The company plans to expand its workforce on the site from five to 20 as its markets develop.

Plasvacc's products have been developed by veterinarian and academic Dr Ross Wilson, Plasvacc's managing director and chief scientific officer.

Wilson said the company has plans to take its technology for producing hyperimmune plasma containing antibodies targeting specific infections and adapt it for human needs.