Development of treatments for apicomplexa poultry pathogens****

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Amongst infectious diseases, coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis are two of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in poultry. Worldwide, each disease causes greater than $5 billion dollars in poultry production losses annually. Canadian losses are estimated to be 10% of the US at 60 million USD. Poultry coccidiosis is cause by parasites from the genus Eimeria, most commonly Eimeria tenella, while Eimeria maxima is the most common predisposing factor for the development of poultry necrotic enteritis. Although vaccines exist for both conditions, they currently fail to adequately control the disease. NovoBind Livestock Therapeutics Inc. proposes to develop novel antibody-based strategies that could be incorporated into poultry feed to prevent the development of coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis. **Eimeria tenella and Eimeria maxima are part of a larger group of parasites known as apicomplexan parasites. This proposal relies on the expertise of Dr. Martin Boulanger and his laboratory in the key determinants of apicomplexan diseases. The work described here will enable NovoBind to generate antibodies targeting this key determinant and will bolster the novel Eimeria tenella-specific and Eimeria maxima-specific antibodies (NBXs) NovoBind has already generated. The development of prophylactic products targeting coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis would benefit poultry producers in Canada and around the world. The revenue generated by NovoBind in delivering this product would also be an economic boost to Canada. Furthermore, if successful this work will set the stage to develop similar therapeutics for human diseases caused by apicomplexan parasites, which include malaria and toxoplasmosis.**