Fermentation Facility Client Named Iowa Life Sciences Company of the Year
The Technology Association of Iowa named Iowa State University Fermentation Facility client, Harrisvaccines, Inc., the Iowa Life Sciences Company of the Year at the seventh annual Prometheus Awards dinner on April 11. Harrisvaccines is an Iowa State start-up company formed six years ago by Hank Harris, professor of animal science.
Harrisvaccines focuses on improving animal health and enhancing productivity in the swine, cattle, and farmed shrimp industries. Using state-of-the-art advanced molecular science, Harrisvaccines employs two unique RNA platforms to develop products for animal diseases. Using their proprietary Alphavirus RNA Particle technology, Harrisvaccines develops RNA-based products which enable differentiation of infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA), an important tool in the control and eradication of animal diseases.
Harrisvaccines is currently working with a large shrimp producer to develop new vaccines for viruses that affect shrimp, such as infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) and white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), two pathogens that can be devastating to the farmed shrimp industry. Harrisvaccines uses the 5-liter benchtop fermentors in the Iowa State University Fermentation Facility to produce research-scale quantities of shrimp vaccine and optimize culture conditions. They have also used the spectrophotometer to track bacterial growth curves by OD600 measurements. Those same culture conditions can then be used in much larger production-scale fermentors.
Besides using the equipment, Harrisvaccines researchers also receive assistance from John Strohl, Fermentation Facility manager. “John has been very helpful in providing training for the benchtop fermentors and other equipment in the fermentation facility,” said Patrick Jennings, Production Coordinator for Harrisvaccines.
The Fermentation Facility is designed to help researchers develop new fermentation technologies and products, and provide bench- and pilot-scale fermentation equipment. The facility gives researchers access to state-of the-art equipment and expertise in microbial fermentation and product recovery. It is managed by the Center for Crops Utilization Research. For more information, contact John Strohl at 515-294-0306 or jstrohl@iastate.edu.
Harrisvaccines is headquartered in Ames, Iowa, at the Iowa State Research Park. Go to www.harrisvaccines.com for more information.