Page 10 - Vol.39-No.1

CROP PROTECTION

NOVUS ACQUIRES BIOTECH COMPANY

AGRIVIDA TO DEVELOP NEW FEED ADDITIVES

While the category of functional proteins directly in the grain. The grain is grown,
includes enzymes, which Agrivida has al- harvested and ground, and fed to the ani-
ready accomplished through GRAINZYME®, mal like any other corn in diet. Zimmerman
the Novus Innovation team is expanding says by having the additive inside the grain,
the product offerings to include antibodies the molecules are more efficiently absorbed
embedded in grain. by the animal, allowing producers to im-
Global animal health and nutrition com- “Single-domain antibodies present prove both performance and their return
pany Novus International, Inc., announced an opportunity to naturally address the on investment.
its acquisition of biotech company Agrivida health challenges producers face in an- The acquisition includes Agrivida, Inc.,
Inc. Through the purchase, Novus takes tibiotic-reduced and antibiotic-free pro- and its operations in Massachusetts and
ownership of the proprietary INTERIUS™ duction. These antibodies are a challenge Nebraska. The Agrivida team, including
technology Agrivida developed to embed to produce cost-effectively and deliver founders R. Michael Raab and Jeremy
feed additives inside grain. to the animal in a sustainable way,” says Schley-Johnson, will join Novus bringing
This move by Novus comes two years Novus Vice President and Chief Innova- with them their innovative approach to
after it began a commercial partnership tion Officer Al Zimmerman. “INTERIUS™ developing functional proteins.
with Agrivida to support the sale of the technology addresses these challenges by Raab, who is also Agrivida’s chief tech-
start-up’s flagship product, GRAINZYME®. removing costly fermentation and coating nology officer, says he’s excited about the
processes as well as offers the potential to
“Since December 2020, we’ve taken stack different antibodies and/or enzymes opportunities to come.
the time to understand and explore what in a single corn product solution for the “Joining Novus will accelerate the deploy-
INTERIUS™ technology is capable of,” says animal. Traditionally these efforts would ment of new animal health and nutrition
Novus President and CEO Dan Meagher. require blended products, which would solutions through the INTERIUS™ platform.
“With this technology we believe we can mean more processing and cost. The IN- As Agrivida alone, our bandwidth to devel-
revolutionize the feed additive industry TERIUS™ technology delivers this benefit op and commercialize products was limited
through the expression of high-value, in a single ingredient - corn.” by our resources and global expertise. As
functional proteins inside grain, providing part of Novus, we can now bring multiple
new products that are sustainable, both Instead of manufacturing feed additives products to market and attain a global
environmentally and operationally.” by fermentation, INTERIUS™ technology reach to deliver new, technology-based
tells the grain how to make the additive solutions faster than before.”

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CABB SITE IN KOKKOLA, FINLAND: VITAL

GROWTH WITH A FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY

The CABB site in Kokkola is a powerhouse the first quarter of 2024 and will accommo-
in Agrochemical Manufacturing since 1984 date central functions like Health, Safety and
and employs over 250 employees. In a first Environment (HSE), Finance, Administration
step, CABB Kokkola commissioned eight new and the Supply Chain team. The new building
chemical reactors and a new packaging plant is designed to operate CO2 neutral as for
in September, thus massively increasing its heating will be used the heat captured from
production capacities. Among other things, manufacturing processes and solar panels
the expansion took place in the context of will be installed on the roof of the building.
a longstanding supply contract with a new
customer from the crop protection indus- Bringing about a further
try. Further investments in the double-digit reduction in CO2 emissions
millions are currently being made or in the At the same time as expanding produc- are incinerated in the incineration plant per
pipeline, according to Ari Venninen, Manag- tion, CABB Kokkola is working continuously year. Depending on the quantity of waste
ing Director of CABB Kokkola: “The invest- to improve sustainability, in particular by being incinerated, additional fuels are re-
ments in production, infrastructure and our reducing CO2 emissions. Since the start quired. Heavy heating oil has been used for
employees show that we can be optimistic of 2020, the energy for CABB production this purpose, but this is gradually being re-
about the future – we are very much on has been sourced entirely from wind and placed by other fuels, including green fuels
track.” This applies to both the chemical park hydropower. A further important step will from different sources. Tests with suppliers
in Kokkola, the largest in Northern Europe be taken by modifying the waste inciner- have been successfully completed and are
for inorganic chemistry, in general and to ation plant that also supplies the majority now entering into long term co-operation.
CABB in particular. Construction work on of the steam required for production. Over CABB expects that this change to the waste
a new administration building has also just 34,000 tons of aqueous and organic waste incineration process will enable it to cut CO2
begun. It is scheduled to be completed by emissions by a further 6,000 tons per year.

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