The Spanish company said the deal with the two local partners enables Bioiberica to compete in a complex and demanding market, while also extending its presence in the Asia Pacific region.
Aska Animal Health Co – Bioiberica’s official distributor in Japan – will initially import the company’s Nucleoforce aquaculture and livestock feed targeted range.
Nucleoforce comprises free nucleotides and active precursors, obtained from yeast extracts. The company maintains that different studies have shown that those products help strengthen the immune and digestive systems in young animals during the rapid maturation phases of their immune and intestinal systems.
As part of the agreement, Aska will support Bioiberica on the management of regulatory procedures and local R&D trials. The Shintoa Corporation will oversee the promotion and sale of the ingredients. Longer-term, the trio has plans to bring the Barcelona-based firm’s Palbio range – a source of hydrolyzed proteins - to the Japanese market too – it is currently pending registration before distribution begins.
“Japan is one of the leading markets for livestock and aquaculture feed ingredient sales, both in Asia and globally,” said Joan Bassa, director of the heparin science, animal nutrition and plant health business units at Bioiberica. “It’s a complex market to trade in though, which is why it was so important for us to collaborate with local partners. Aska and Shintoa have a longstanding and established presence in Japan and are considered key suppliers of feed materials to the animal nutrition market, with a deep knowledge of the country’s regulatory landscape and strong commercial capabilities.”
Expanded footprint in South Korean market
In February this year, Bioiberica signed a strategic partnership with Mill Tech Co Inc for the distribution of Palbio in South Korea.
Mill Tech, which works with all the major feed players in South Korea, had an existing relationship with Bioiberica in relation to distribution of its nucleotides-based products in that Asian market.
The Palbio range, said the company, met that Asian country’s strict regulatory requirements for animal feed ingredients. The company had to fulfil rigorous export requirements.
“After a long process of authorization with the local health authorities, we obtained the approval at the end of 2019. However, 2020 was a ‘lost year’ due to the pandemic, so the product launch and sales were delayed,” Bassat told this publication back then.
South Korea has been one of the most difficult markets to access due to the regulatory barriers, he added. And Bassa highlighted how collaboration was critical in terms of bringing products to new markets. “There has been a lot of work undertaken by both Bioiberica and Mill Tech, as well as the health authorities in both our countries, to successfully achieve authorization of the range.”
The company said the Palbio range has been designed to support the intestinal health of young animals, improving digestion and feed intake to ensure productive improvements in pig, poultry, and fish.
