REVUE DE PRESSE

2010

Olmix SA Le Lintan ZA du Haut du Bois 56580 Bréhan France

Téléphone: +33 (0)297 38 81 03 Télécopie: +33 (0)297 38 86 58 Email: contact@olmix.com Website: www.olmix.com

Société Anomyne au capital de 428 396, 20 € - RCS Vannes B 402 120 034

Siret: 402 120 034 00010 - Code NAF: 241 E - N° TVA Intracommunautaire: FR 20 402 120 034

! 3

025

MO

NA

LISA

A natural alternative to antibiotics in animal feed

EUREKA project E! 3025 MONALISA has

developed a new, completely natural

alternative to using antibiotics in

animal feed. Formerly used as growth

promoters and to prevent the damaging

effects of the fungal toxins which are

often present in feed, antibiotics have

been prohibited for use in animal feed in

the EU since 2006 – creating a need for

a new, effective antimycotoxic agent.

The already-known capacity of clay

minerals to adsorb these mycotoxins

has been increased ten times over

in this project by the incorporation

of molecules of extracts from algae

(seaweed) onto the clay. The resulting

activated clay is added to animal feed,

where it is highly efficient at adsorbing

the mycotoxin molecules.

Mycotoxins – which have, over the

years, become one of the major

concerns of animal feed producers - are

the chemical products of fungal moulds

which are often present in cereal grains

and forage crops. They are especially

prevalent in warm and humid regions

like Asia and South America, where the

climate conditions favour fungal growth.

Mycotoxins cause a range of problems

to farm animals, including reducing

their feed intake and therefore reducing

their growth. Consuming mycotoxins

can also make animals more susceptible

to disease and lead to damaged liver

and kidneys. Human health is affected

by consumption of animal products

like meat, milk and eggs which are

contaminated with mycotoxins.

For many years, a range of antibiotics

have been applied in low doses to

animal feed, to control the production

of mycotoxins and to act as growth

promoters. But as part of its policy

to reduce the threat of developing

microbial resistance to antibiotics, the

use of antibiotics in animal feed was

banned in the EU from 1 January 2006.

This policy meant that there was an

urgent need for some other way to

control the mycotoxins in animal feed.

Multiple applications

French company Olmix was aware that

some naturally-occurring clay minerals,

particularly montmorillonite, were able

to adsorb organic molecules including

these toxic substances onto their

surface. The clays are formed of layers

of about one nanometre. Within the

MONALISA project, French company

Olmix employed the process known

as intercalation, to include molecules

of seaweed extracts between the

clay layers; making the new product

Amadeite®. This process separates the

layers (delamination) and increases the

interlayer space; and as a result the

We found very good benefits in the adsorption of the mycotoxin with our product, and with it we can replace antibiotics in animal feed.

Anca Laza-Knoerr - Olmix, France

Binding molecules from seaweed extracts within the molecular layers of natural clays makes the clay ten times more efficient at adsorbing the harmful fungal toxins which are commonly found in animal feed. The resulting new hybrid product has a huge potential market worldwide as a completely natural, effective alternative to the formerly-used antibiotics, which are now prohibited from this use in the European Union.

Doing business through technology

clay is able to adsorb up to ten times

the amount of mycotoxins compared

to pure clay. “Our idea,” says Dr Anca

Laza-Knoerr, “was to introduce a natural

product into the clay, rather than the

synthetic polymers that had already

been used to make activated clays.”

The process, which involves suspension

of the clay and seaweed extract in

water, followed by removal of the

remaining algal extract, centrifugation

and drying, now holds two worldwide

patents. It is the development of this

process that is the main technological

innovation. As well as applications in

the field of animal feed, the clay-algal

extract combination has potential uses

in the purification of water from waste

effluents, heavy metals or radioactive

pollution.

Olmix worked on the preparation of the

seaweed for extraction in partnership

with other specialised laboratories:

the European Research Centre for

Algae (CEVA,) and the Laboratoire de

Matériaux à Porosité Contrôlée (LMPC,

Mulhouse). The seaweed is readily

and cheaply available on beaches, but

it has to be carefully washed before

extraction so that residual sand does

not damage the extraction machinery.

Use of the algae for this purpose has the

secondary benefit that it is so plentiful

in some regions that it is considered an

environmental pollutant.

Successful products from basic research

Further development of the application

of Amadeite® in animal feed was

made by the Spanish partner in the

MONALISA project, Adiveter, which

has specialist knowledge of the

microbiological monitoring of feeds

and raw materials. As a result, since

the end of the project Olmix has been

able to market two products for use

in animal feed. The first, called M Feed,

is a growth promoter which aids the

digestive process and helps to maintain

the balance of the gut microflora.

The economic yield of the animals is

increased by enhanced digestion and

growth. The second product, MTx+

adsorbs harmful mycotoxins from the

feed and its use has been shown to

increase livestock productivity. Both

products are already being marketed

in many countries throughout Europe

and in Russia, the US and Japan, with

estimated worldwide sales of €12

million in 2009. “The activated clay

Amadeite® is an innovative, natural

additive, and really important for

agriculture and many other industrial

applications,” says Aurélie Garel, also

from Olmix.

Developing the new activated clay

product Amadeite® was only possible

through the support of EUREKA, which

helped to locate and bring together

partner organisations with the right

expertise and facilities. Collaboration

between the partner organisations was

excellent. The impact of the project is

that it allowed the development of a

highly effective range of products, to

take the place of the antibiotics whose

widespread use was threatening to

increase microbial resistance.

Our idea was to introduce a natural product into the clay, rather than the synthetic polymers that had already been used to make activated clays.

Anca Laza-Knoerr - Olmix, France

Project participants:France, Spain

Budget: 1.44 MEuro

ContactDr Anca Lucia Laza-Knoerr Olmix SAZa du Haut du Bois56580 BrehanFranceTel. +33 297 388152Fax +33 297 388658allazaknoerr@olmix.comwww.olmix.com www.adiveter.com

! 3

025

MO

NA

LISA

www.eurekanetwork.org

EUREKA is one of the leading platforms for R&D-performing entrepreneurs in Europe. Founded in 1985, EUREKA now unites 39 member countries. Together, they promote international, market-oriented research and innovation through the support they offer to enterprises, universities and research institutes. Results stemming from EUREKA projects are everywhere: gsm mobile phone technology; navigation systems; smartcards to support mobile and electronic commerce; film special effects software for cinema; state-of-the-art medical devices and technologies to monitor and limit environmental pollution.

LeTélégramme.com

SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-GUÉ-DE-L'ISLE

Élevages porcins. Des Japonnais en visite27 février 2010

ercredi, un groupe de Japonais, des techniciens agricole,éleveurs et fabriquant d'aliment, avait choisi les Côtes-d'Armorpour découvrir les méthodes des éleveurs locaux.

Une visite complète

Une société Morbihannaise (Olmix) les avait invités à visiterquelques porcheries locales dans la commune et à Plumieux,afin d'observer les techniques de travail et, plus précisément, laconduite en bandes. Puis, ils se sont rendus au Zoopole, àPloufragan, où ils ont été reçus par François Madec,responsables des maladies porcines. Il leur a apporté desexplications sur l'éradication de certaines de ces maladies, enBretagne. Ils étaient accompagnés d'Alain Réocreux, directeurdes ventes; DanielMéchet, nutritionniste porcin et AndréL'Hénoret, prêtre-ouvrier à la retraite, qui ayant séjourné 21 ans au Japon, a servi d'interprète.

© Copyright Le Télégramme 2009

© Le Télégramme 2009 - imprimer http://www.letelegramme.com/dyn/imprimer.php?link=/recherche/archi...

1 sur 1 20/09/2010 14:50

12-13 juin 2010 Quotidien

Côtes d’Armor Article p.9

Options for optimising rumen p21

Novembre 2010 Vol 9 n°5 (2010)

Actualités p13-14

Décembre 2010

Mensuel

Actualités p13-14

Décembre 2010

Mensuel