July 11, 2007

China's Skystar to launch 20 lactobacillus additives by autumn

China's Skystar Bio-Pharmaceuticals has announced it is rolling out 20 new products for livestock and aquatic animals with the drug-resistant micro-organism lactobacillus acidophilus.

The new products have a high activity of microbial strains, strong drug resistance and outstanding stability. L. acidophilus is a commonly used probiotic that protects against disease-causing organisms.

These new products are expected to add over US$550,000 to the company's annual revenue, the company said.

Skystar will launch the L. acidophilus micro-organisms for both aquaculture and livestock industry by autumn 2007, once approval has been granted from China's Ministry of Agriculture.

The company specially tailored their product for aquaculture as fish farms are fast proliferating and feed additive products are in demand currently. The Chinese market for micro-organisms used in aquaculture is estimated to be 100,000 tonnes in 2007.

Weibing Lu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Skystar, said the products have strong market potential as demand for microorganisms in China is high, but only 50,000 tonnes of the required 200,000 tonnes was produced in China in 2006. 

Skystar developed the products in cooperation with Jiangsu Microorganism Institute (JMI), one of the leading research institutes in the bio-pharmaceutical industry in China.

JMI has completed over 20 national key research projects and received more than 20 patents ( 5 international patents) since it was established 30 years ago.