Zoetis to evaluate anti-infective product for animals

Animal health company Zoetis will evaluate the potential applications of Detach — a non-antibiotic, anti-infective product from Anatara Lifesciences (ASX: ANR) — for veterinary use in food production animals. Detach is a plant-based product that will help address concerns around the overuse of antibiotics in production animals, which is contributing to the rise of superbugs.

“Anatara’s Detach technology has potential to play a part as an alternative to traditional antibiotics to treat gastrointestinal diseases in farm animals,” said Dr Scott A Brown, vice president, external innovation at Zoetis.

Under an exclusive agreement, Anatara has granted Zoetis an option to license Detach for development and commercialisation in markets worldwide while retaining rights to the Australian and New Zealand markets. The companies have agreed on an aggressive research program for investigation of the utility in multiple livestock species during the option period.

“We look forward to evaluating the potential utility of this innovative technology as we seek to offer our veterinary and livestock producer customers worldwide new solutions that help protect animal health and bring value to their businesses,” said Dr Brown.

“We have had significant international partnering interest in Detach and have selected Zoetis as our ideal partner to develop Detach for registration and launch worldwide for use in livestock,” said Anatara Chairman Dr Mel Bridges. “The Anatara team look forward to working with Zoetis in fast-tracking the development of our lead product.”

Anatara Lifesciences (ASX: ANR) shares were trading 4% higher at $1.30 as of around 11.30 am on Monday.