MinnWest Tenant, Epitopix, LLC, Receives Conditional License from USDA

6.2009: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted a conditional license to Epitopix, LLC  for America’s first E. coli O157 vaccine for cattle. The vaccine is made with Epitopix’ exclusive SRP Technology, an innovative, patented vaccine production process. The new vaccine is labeled for use in cattle to reduce the prevalence of the E. coli O157 carrier state and for the reduction in the amount of E. coli O157 in feces to minimize E. coli exposure and infection of herd-mates.

Jim Sandstrom, General Manager for Epitopix, LLC, says, “The new E. coli O157 Bacterial Extract is the first O157 vaccine for sale in the United States.  It represents a significant breakthrough in the beef industry’s on-going effort to reduce E. coli O157”. The announcement was made at the Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCO) annual summit meeting in San Diego, California.

The USDA approval allows Epitopix to make the vaccine immediately available for use by the beef industry, but the product license is conditional while additional potency and efficacy studies are completed. E. coli O157 Bacterial Extract is the first immunological weapon available to the industry in the battle against this food safety concern.

Epitopix had a team of Scientists, led by Dr. Daryll Emery, Darren Straub and Doug Burkhardt, which developed the innovative SRP vaccine production process. Their work together, with scientific assistance from two prominent beef industry experts, Dr. Dan Thomson of Kansas State University and Dr. Guy Loneragan of West Texas A&M University, was critical to receiving the USDA approval.

Epitopix, LLC was founded in 2002 and is currently headquartered in a newly-remodeled facility at the MinnWest Technology Campus.



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