Anatara pig diarrhoea trial gets positive results, but weight-gain target sapped by good environment

QLD biotech is attempting to fix pig poo problems — the latest test result came out good, but didn’t have everything the market was after

Piglet in sky

DRUG trial results showing a reduction in diarrhoea-afflicted piglets have given a slight boost to stock in Brisbane-based Anatara.

But the test did not smash all the goals it was shooting for, such as weight gain, which drug-developer Anatara linked to the test piggery surprisingly only copping a mild dose of the illness.

Shares in Anatara closed up 2c to 82c after this second trial for 2015.

“The results … show fairly convincingly the power of the treatment to reduce scour (diarrhoea) in piglets. What would have been nice to see, but was not observed, was a statistically valid gain in weight,” Bioshares analyst David Blake said.

Anatara chairman Mel Bridges said the company was still on track to apply for registration with Australian authorities in 2015’s fourth quarter. “The most important thing is the trial supports registration,” he said.

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Anatara has developed a treatment derived from pineapple stems. It is being pushed as an alternative to antibiotics, with concerns rising about use of and resistance to antibiotics.

The latest test was two groups of 280 weaner piglets. On the group given a placebo, 152 piglets got diarrhoea. The group given Anatara’s product, Detach, was 89, or 41 per cent lower.

A scoring system even looked at the wateriness and looseness of the piglets’ diarrhoea, and the trial result indicated treated piglets fared better on this score chart.

The piggery typically suffered worse bouts of diarrhoea but the dry weather meant the outbreak during the trial period was not that bad. Anatara chief scientific officer Tracey Mynott said the test showed Detach still offered a benefit despite these better conditions.

But another goal was to prove piglets administered with Detach gain more weight, and the trial only showed a small improvement of 1 per cent. This was attributed to the lack of outbreak of the illness. In other trials, Anatara has said pigs on their treatment posted better weight gains.

Anatara is aiming to have their product on sale in 2016, and is conducting another trial.