6 February 2024
Agronomics Limited
("Agronomics" or the
"Company")
Bond Pet Foods Achieves Key
Milestone For Sustainable
Protein Production
Agronomics (LON:ANIC), a leading
listed company in cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that
its portfolio company Bond Pet Foods ("Bond"), the US-based company
that produces animal proteins through precision fermentation, has
delivered two metric tons of animal protein to one of the most
popular pet food providers in the US, Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc
("Hill's") - a division of the Colgate-Palmolive
Company.
This represents a major milestone
toward Bond commercialising its fermentation technology for pet
food applications. The scale of the delivery will allow Hill's to
formulate a variety of test products at its Pet Nutrition Center in
Topeka, Kansas, for regulatory review and evaluation. That data
will be used for the ingredient's eventual review by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine, as well
as to prepare prototypes for market evaluation.
The commercial agreement reinforces
a strong partnership between Bond and Hill's after the companies
first announced a joint venture in 2021 to develop a source of more
sustainable animal protein to fulfil the dietary needs of dogs and
cats. In the U.S. alone, 74 million dogs and 56 million cats in
households currently consume significant amounts
of animal-based protein. As a result, a 2017 study
published in the scientific journal PLUS One found that pets alone
account for 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with
domestic meat consumption.
Agronomics
holds 531,692 Series A Preferred Shares, representing an
equity ownership of 1.85% in Bond.
Rich Kelleman, Founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods
said:
"Producing two tons of product at the
45,000-litre scale is a major milestone in the Bond-Hill's
collaboration. Hill's commitment to expand on our work together
demonstrates the opportunity we collectively see in Bond's
ingredients for the pet industry's food future."
Jim
Mellon, Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Agronomics
commented:
"The growing commercial partnership with Hill's, one of
America's most popular pet food providers, shows the rapid progress
being made toward taking these products to market. Prototype and
market evaluation is one of the final steps toward regulatory
approval, and we await the results with anticipation. Many
congratulations to Bond on its exceptional work so
far."
About Agronomics
Agronomics is a leading listed
alternative proteins company with a focus on cellular agriculture
including precision fermentation and cultivated meat. The Company
has established a portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies
owning technologies with defensible intellectual property that
offer new ways of producing food and materials with a focus on
products historically derived from animals. These technologies are
driving a major disruption in agriculture, offering solutions to
improve sustainability, as well as addressing human health, animal
welfare and environmental damage. This disruption will decouple
supply chains from the environment and animals, as well as being
fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full
list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at
https://agronomics.im/.
About Bond Pet Foods
Bond Pet Foods is a Boulder,
Colorado-based company using biotechnology to create meat proteins
that are nutritionally comparable to their conventional
counterparts but without all the associated harmful material - so
people, pets, farm animals and the planet all win. Using some of
the same processes that are employed in craft brewing, Bond
produces high-quality animal proteins through fermentation,
harvests them to better meet the nutritional requirements of
companion animals, and supplies the ingredients to manufacturers
for pet food, treat and supplement applications.
For further information please
contact:
Agronomics
Limited
|
Beaumont
Cornish
Limited
|
Canaccord Genuity
Limited
|
Cenkos
Securities
Plc
|
Peterhouse
Capital
Limited
|
SEC Newgate
|
The
Company
|
Nomad
|
Joint
Broker
|
Joint
Broker
|
Joint
Broker
|
Public
Relations
|
Jim
Mellon
Denham
Eke
|
Roland
Cornish
James
Biddle
|
Andrew
Potts
Harry
Pardoe
Alex Aylen
(Head of Equities)
|
Giles
Balleny
Michael
Johnson
|
Lucy
Williams
Charles
Goodfellow
|
Bob
Huxford
Anthony Hughes
|
+44 (0)
1624 639396
info@agronomics.im
|
+44 (0)
207 628 3396
|
+44 (0)
207 523 8000
|
+44 (0)
207 397 8900
|
+44 (0)
207 469 0936
|
agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk
|