Zivo Bioscience, Inc. announced positive results from a month-long coccidiosis trial in broilers conducted by an independent veterinary research provider. The study evaluating the company’s new immunomodulatory biologic to treat coccidiosis in broilers examined multiple lots of product, as well as multiple test concentrations of the product, and produced statistically significant positive results in the treated groups. Coccidiosis is a protozoan disease that causes diarrhea, weight loss, reduced performance and increased mortality in poultry.
This disease represents a significant economic challenge for the global poultry industry, as indicated by a 2020 study that estimates annual costs to range between $10 and $17 billion (Re-calculating the Cost of Coccidiosis in Chickens; Blake, D. , Knox, J., et al). The products used to treat coccidiosis are mainly antibiotics or ionophores, and no new commercially significant technologies have been introduced in the last 60 years. The disease exposure used in this trial closely replicated conditions often observed in commercial broiler production facilities experiencing a coccidiosis outbreak, including the incidence and severity of intestinal lesions, mortality, and other measures related to the disease that are commercially relevant.
Birds treated with ZIVO’s product candidate showed statistically significant improvements in all broiler health measures examined. Sick chickens treated with high doses of ZIVO’s product candidate showed a reduction in disease-related effects to a level seen in healthy birds. The results of this recent study involving multiple lots of products, including the product used in the inconclusive study conducted earlier this year, are consistent with those of more than 20 previous successful trials that closely replicated disease levels observed in environments of commercial production.
This validates the fact that ZIVO’s product candidate remains stable over a long period of time, without decreasing its effectiveness. As a result, ZIVO remains confident that its new broiler product candidate represents an innovative solution to coccidiosis, one of the most important challenges facing the global poultry industry.
