DWN joins forces with Deosan
Dairy Women’s Network has signed on a new dairying partner in Waikato-based company Deosan this month.
The $1.7 million Ministry of Business, Industry and Enterprise-funded study, which also involves animal health company Deosan, will use microbiology and medicinal chemistry to advance new anti-mastitis molecules. The result will be “entirely new” teat care formulations.
Mastitis costs the NZ dairy industry at least $280m per year in treatment and discarded milk.
The dairy industry now relies on just two antimicrobial sanitisers to control mastitis, administered through teat sprays, the universities’ research teams say.
Both formulations contain bioactive ingredients (chlorhexidine or iodine) also used to control infection in hospitals. But because of the mounting threat of antimicrobial resistance in clinical environments and lower acceptance of chemical residues in consumer products, there is a call for new types of products for the dairy industry.
Previous research, supported by Agmardt, uncovered a new class of molecules with potent antimicrobial activity against mastitis-causing microorganisms; these have the potential to work with current treatments, and they are not harmful to mammal’s cells.
Deosan chief executive Kip Bodle says this project can help support NZ’s global leadership in producing quality milk.
“Our success in commercialising products could have global significance…. NZ innovation in milk quality resonates well with emerging dairy markets.”
The Otago research team is led by professor Greg Cook, Michelle McConnell and Adam Heikal; the Auckland University team has professor Margaret Brimble, Deosan, and others.
