Agronomics Limited Announces Bond Pet Foods Achieves Key Milestone

Bond Pet Foods Achieves Key Milestone For Sustainable Protein Production

DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN / ACCESSWIRE / February 6, 2024 / Agronomics Limited ("Agronomics" or the "Company") Agronomics (LON:ANIC), a leading listed company in cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company Bond Pet Foods ("Bond"), the US-based company that produces animal proteins through precision fermentation, has delivered two metric tons of animal protein to one of the most popular pet food providers in the US, Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc ("Hill's") - a division of the Colgate-Palmolive Company.

This represents a major milestone toward Bond commercialising its fermentation technology for pet food applications. The scale of the delivery will allow Hill's to formulate a variety of test products at its Pet Nutrition Center in Topeka, Kansas, for regulatory review and evaluation. That data will be used for the ingredient's eventual review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine, as well as to prepare prototypes for market evaluation.

The commercial agreement reinforces a strong partnership between Bond and Hill's after the companies first announced a joint venture in 2021 to develop a source of more sustainable animal protein to fulfil the dietary needs of dogs and cats. In the U.S. alone, 74 million dogs and 56 million cats in households currently consume significant amounts of animal-based protein. As a result, a 2017 study published in the scientific journal PLUS One found that pets alone account for 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with domestic meat consumption.

Agronomics holds 531,692 Series A Preferred Shares, representing an equity ownership of 1.85% in Bond.

Rich Kelleman, Founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods said:

"Producing two tons of product at the 45,000-litre scale is a major milestone in the Bond-Hill's collaboration. Hill's commitment to expand on our work together demonstrates the opportunity we collectively see in Bond's ingredients for the pet industry's food future."

Jim Mellon, Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Agronomics commented:

"The growing commercial partnership with Hill's, one of America's most popular pet food providers, shows the rapid progress being made toward taking these products to market. Prototype and market evaluation is one of the final steps toward regulatory approval, and we await the results with anticipation. Many congratulations to Bond on its exceptional work so far."

About Agronomics
Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on cellular agriculture including precision fermentation and cultivated meat. The Company has established a portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials with a focus on products historically derived from animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well as addressing human health, animal welfare and environmental damage. This disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals, as well as being fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at https://agronomics.im/.

About Bond Pet Foods
Bond Pet Foods is a Boulder, Colorado-based company using biotechnology to create meat proteins that are nutritionally comparable to their conventional counterparts but without all the associated harmful material - so people, pets, farm animals and the planet all win. Using some of the same processes that are employed in craft brewing, Bond produces high-quality animal proteins through fermentation, harvests them to better meet the nutritional requirements of companion animals, and supplies the ingredients to manufacturers for pet food, treat and supplement applications.

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SOURCE: Agronomics Limited