TIDMTYR TIDMTYRU
RNS Number : 4141N
TyraTech, Inc.
09 May 2018
For release: 7.00am, 9 May 2018
TYRATECH, INC.
("TyraTech" or the "Company")
Progress in 2018 on Current Products and major milestones
achieved in New Product Development
TyraTech Inc. (AIM: TYR, and TYRU), the life sciences company
focused on nature-derived insect and parasite control products, is
pleased to provide an update on the progress made with its animal
health products, following the successful sale of Vamousse(R) as
announced on 4 December 2017.
Our operational goals at the end of 2017 were to expand the
market penetration of the products already launched and to
jump-start our development pipeline, focusing on products targeting
the biggest markets of controlling internal parasites in production
animals. For the beginning of the year 2018, we can report progress
on all these fronts.
Highlights
-- PureScience(TM) Poultry Mite unit sales up 250% on a moving
annual total - Expanding into Europe
-- Outsmart(R) sales to SmartPak showing sharp increase for early 2018
-- Coccidiosis: study in poultry showing encouraging reductions
in severity of lesions (US$1 billion market)
-- Intestinal worms: field trial in pigs showing 70% reduction
in intestinal worms (US$3 billion market)
We anticipate releasing our results for the year 2017 before the
end of May.
Progress on Current Products
Poultry
Mites are one of the most significant pests in laying chickens,
with a prevalence ranging from 60% in the US to 90% in Europe,
causing close to US$1 billion in lost productivity to the egg
production industry worldwide. We are rolling-out our
PureScience(TM) product to control mites on chickens in the US.
We have achieved: nationwide distribution in the USA with MWI
Animal Health (the biggest distributor of animal health products in
the US); high penetration rate (estimated at 60%) with CalMaine
Foods Inc. (Nasdaq: CALM), the biggest producer of eggs in the US;
solid contribution margin for our product; and positive economic
return on investment for producers which could recover the cost of
the mite treatment in less than a week. Starting from a modest
base, unit sales to the producers have increased by 250% versus
last year on a moving annual total basis and are still growing
steadily. This number shows repeat purchase and evolution from
treatment to prevention. We expect to grow the business in the US,
even if it is a small market segment of less than US$5 million, by
expanding our market penetration to other major egg producers.
We are in the process of expanding the usage of our PureScience
Poultry Mite Dust to Europe where the market is larger, estimated
at US$40 million. Egg producers in Europe are affected by a
different type of mite (the "red mite"), which is more difficult to
eradicate and is present more often in egg production facilities.
We are pleased to report that our field studies have shown that our
product provides up to 90% control of red mites for up to 4 months
in layers after one treatment. This positions us very favorably
versus competing products that are either more expensive or less
effective. Furthermore, we have already registered our product in
France, Germany and the Czech Republic and identified potential
distribution partners. We are on track to launch our PureScience
poultry mite product in France and Germany by the end of the
year.
A major objective of the PureScience business is to set-up our
commercial operations and relationships with poultry producers to
create a streamlined distribution system for the future new
products addressing larger market segments. Selling products to the
poultry business is challenging because of the high barriers to
entry. One must overcome several obstacles: finding a nationwide
distributor; establishing a trusted relationship with the biggest
key accounts; and demonstrating the economic and health benefit of
the products. With the roll-out of our PureScience product to
control mites on chickens in the USA we overcame these obstacles
and we are planning to do the same in Europe.
Equine
Sales of our equine fly repellent product, OutSmart(R), to our
partner SmartPak(R) are up sharply in the first part of 2018 over
the same period in 2017. SmartPak is launching a new product this
year, a roll-on formulation specifically designed to apply the
product on sensitive areas of the horses (around the eyes, on the
face). As with Vamousse(R), we benefit from positive customer
feedback that highlights the unique combination of safety and
efficacy of SmartPak, that offers a full protection against flies
over 5 hours, as well as protection against mosquitoes and ticks.
Those are strong differentiators from our chemical pesticides
competitors that provide a shorter protection against flies due to
resistance and are less effective against ticks, potential vectors
of severe diseases. Despite a good start, we do not expect a strong
fly season due to the sustained cold weather.
DEET-free Insect Repellent
For Guardian, our DEET-free mosquito and tick repellent, we
decided not to invest in the short term in its commercialization
but rather dedicate our resources to follow the EPA registration
process. The objective is to seek stronger health claims which
would allow us to compete more effectively with the major players
in the category. We are currently optimizing the formulation to
ensure the best possible combination of efficacy, safety and
cosmetics before entering the formal preparation of the
registration dossier. We are in the lab test phase of these new
formulations, before moving to field testing in the summer.
Major milestones in New Products for internal parasites
Poultry
We are first focusing our development pipeline on the control of
coccidiosis, a protozoan parasite of poultry. Coccidiosis, a
parasite of the guts in poultry, is very common. Worldwide, the
annual cost inflicted by coccidiosis to commercial poultry has been
estimated at US$2 billion. The worldwide market for products to
control coccidiosis is estimated at US$1 billion annually and
current chemical or biological solutions are not satisfactory. We
could anticipate a streamlined launch for this future product
because it would benefit from the commercial operations already
established by our Poultry Mite Dust in the poultry sector.
Two independent in-vitro tests conducted by North Carolina
University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
with TyraTech's formulations showed a significant control (up to
98% depending on the dose) of Emeria (the agent of coccidiosis) and
Histomonas meleagridis (a similar parasite to coccidiosis). In a
further independent study, we showed that, when administered to
chicken, our formulation can significantly reduce the severity of
the lesions caused by coccidiosis. This is a preliminary probe
study that needs further confirmation but it represents a
significant milestone showing the potential activity of our
formulation against coccidiosis in the target animal.
Ruminants
Second, we will direct our development effort on controlling
intestinal and stomach worms in ruminants, a worldwide market
valued at US$3 billion. Ruminants are frequently infested by
intestinal and stomach worms. Because of over-usage, worms have
developed resistance lowering the effectiveness of the
pharmaceutical products currently used. After multiple in-vitro
studies that demonstrated that TyraTech's specifically designed
formulations controlled several species of intestinal worms, a
pivotal in-vivo study was conducted on pigs, independently managed
by the University of Georgia (USA). It showed that our product
significantly reduced the load of worms in the pigs by 70%.
Although more studies will need to be designed to optimize the
formulations and demonstrate that they are also effective in
ruminants, it is a significant milestone that shows activity of our
formulations when administered to the animal.
Our product development pipeline follows a traditional
stage-gate process, with one of the most critical milestones being
confirming that the efficacy demonstrated in-vitro in the lab can
be confirmed in-vivo in the animal. This will be our focus for the
coming months as we continue to move as quickly and efficiently as
possible through the phases of product development.
Bruno Jactel, Chief Executive of TyraTech commented:
"We are pleased to show that, in a short period of time, we are
making significant progress in developing new products and
solutions for some of the largest animal health market segments and
to answer some of the biggest un-met needs. After numerous positive
lab studies, we are now moving to the Phase II of our development
pipeline to test our products against internal parasites directly
on animals. Initial probe studies are encouraging and show that we
are moving in the right direction.
More broadly, we are implementing a new strategy that promotes a
more sustainable and green agriculture. As the world's population
grows and demands more food, and especially more meat, industrial
farming will have to scale. At the same time, millennials and aging
baby boomers are demanding cleaner food without added chemicals and
a more sustainable agriculture, respective of the environment and
animal welfare. Therefore, farmers are now looking for new
technologies as an alternative to chemical solutions to promote a
production of animal protein without antibiotics or pesticides. Now
that TyraTech has its new strategic focus we believe we are well
placed to use our unique technology to take advantage of this shift
and provide producers and customers with cleaner food and healthier
environment. We are already well on the road to our transformation
into a pure player in green and sustainable agriculture."
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed
to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market
Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this
announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
For further information:
TyraTech Inc.
Bruno Jactel, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +1 919 415 4340
Erica H. Boisvert, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +1 919 415 4287
www.tyratech.com
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated
Adviser) Tel: +44 20 3368 3551
Matt Davis / Mark Brady
WH Ireland Limited (Broker)
Adrian Hadden / Chris Viggor Tel: +44 20 7220 1666
Belvedere Communications (PR) Tel: +44 20 3567 0510
John West / Kim van Beeck
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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