The company’s aim in creating “Ictiobiotic” is to facilitate the commercialization of environment-friendly oral biotherapeutics,e specially designed to stimulate the fish’s immune system.
ICTIO BIOTECHNOLOGIES is a Chilean private/public consortium founded dour years ago with the aim of developing top-level scientific research. It strives constantly to develop modern treatments that consider the preservation of the environment and the sustainable development of national aquaculture industry. It now introduces Ictiobiotic, a company created in order to commercialize probiotics that stimulate the fish’s immune system, under the leadership of Dr. Mario Tello.
Dr. Camila Wilkens, coordinator of the Technological Transference Area in Ictio Biotechnologies says: “We were chosen by Hatch, the aquaculture business accelerator, to boost the probiotic project. Hatch has positioned itself in the aquaculture innovation ecosystem and currently has a network of collaborators, mentors and contacts that accelerates the start-up process of the projects the choose to incubate.”
Hatch’s support in the design of commercial strategies allows for the gathering of valuable information on salmon, tilapia and shrimp aquaculture markets, among others, overcoming the common obstacles in the early stages of commercializing a new product. “This gives us access to information on the industry’s needs, possible pricing, regulation requirements and, finally, our product has a major platform in which to raise investments, if required, or to start commercializing”, says Wilkens.
The program takes place in Cork, Ireland, and lasts 12 weeks. During these weeks, a business plan, commercial strategies and a final product outline are created. But there are also visitors: different aquaculture companies and other food and drug companies from Ireland, Norway and Singapore visit the premises, “so our product will have a great exposure”, stated the expert.
The oral biotherapeutic for salmons is expected to enter the market during 2019.
Finally, Wilkens highlighted that this initiative is “the first landmark in the process of Ictio Biotechnologies’ commercial launching. The consortium has completed four years of intense scientific research aiming to enter the market with products and services that may have a great positive impact on the national aquaculture industry.”