When our leading client, the global veterinary health company, Ceva Animal Health (Ceva Santé Animale), wanted to publicise a revolutionary new method of testing for a serious disease in animals and humans, they came to us for help on the video front.

We also produced a series of shorter videos to support the launch throughout Ceva’s social media channels.

Q fever is a highly contagious zoonosis, that also has a strong negative impact on the health and reproductive performance of dairy farms.

Recent surveys suggest that Coxiella burnetii, the bacteria responsible for Q fever, is present on at least half of European dairy farms. However, as the disease is mostly insidious and the diagnosis can be quite challenging, only a small percentage of farmers know that Q fever is present in their farms.

In an effort to build awareness on this dangerous but preventable disease, Ceva’s ruminant team has developed a new diagnostic tool – the QTest.

See the main video report we produced to help announce and explain the test:

The QTest is based on the use of the established FTA^® technology, that fixates and inactivates the bacteria on sample collection cards, making it ready to be sent safely by conventional post mail without the need to refrigerate.

A paper published recently online by the Journal of Dairy Science¹, the world’s leading peer-reviewed dairy research journal, presents evidence from validation trials that show Ceva’s QTest is an effective and practical approach to the diagnosis of Q fever in dairy herds. The authors demonstrated that QTest cards spotted with milk samples known to be contaminated with Coxiella burnetii were stable at temperatures up to 37°C for 29 days, and that in PCR tests conducted using milk samples stored for up to 14 days, detection was higher for the QTest cards than for raw milk.

Philippe Gisbert, Ceva’s Ruminants Global Technical Manager, highlights: “To our knowledge, it is the first time that FTA® technology has been used for the diagnosis of Q Fever using bulk tank milk as sample matrix. This tool offers a breakthrough innovation to farmers and veterinarians, by making the diagnosis easier and therefore increasing awareness of the disease and leading to better management of the disease in herds as well as better zoonotic risk management.”

For more detailed information  visit the Ceva blog.

Our client Volition RX, quoted on the New York Stock Exchange, has had an amazing year in 2021 despite the ongoing pandemic.

As our interview on their quarterly financial results showed, the company has been making positive headway on the development of its tests for cancers in humans and animals: See the financial interview here:

“We have enjoyed an exciting quarter navigating the due diligence process and negotiations with three multi-national companies to advance term sheets for Nu.Q^® Vet licensing and distribution arrangements and anticipate signing a term sheet with one of those parties before the end of 2021,” commented Cameron Reynolds, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volition. “We have also made progress in other key areas including our Nu.Q^® NETs and Nu.Q^® Capture programs as we shift gears towards our goal of becoming a commercial company with products.”

Highlights of the quarter include: healthy balance sheet with approximately $22.9 million in cash and cash equivalents; advanced term sheet negotiations with three large multi-national veterinary companies on potential worldwide licensing/distribution arrangements; expanded the Company’s intellectual property portfolio. Made significant progress with the Company’s Nu.Q® NETs development Continued focus on, and made strong progress towards additional new product launches and licensing in both the human and veterinary spaces worldwide.

Company Highlights

Volition Veterinary

In advanced term sheet negotiations with three top global veterinary companies and anticipate signing a term sheet with one of those parties before the end of 2021. Published two abstracts at the Veterinary Cancer Society Annual Conference including: the first data published in relation to what will likely be the second Nu.Q® Vet product, a disease monitoring tool, on track for a planned launch in 2022; and the first study using Nu.Q® Capture as an enrichment tool in the plasma of dogs with lymphoma.

Financial

Cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2021, totalled approximately $22.9 million compared with $19.4 million as of December 31, 2020. Cash burn rate averaged approximately $1.7 million per month, lower than the rate during the previous two quarters and also below the Company’s expectations. Net loss for the third quarter of 2021 was $7.2 million versus $5.6 million the prior quarter with this increase primarily due to non-cash items.

Personnel/ Operational

Dr. Gaetan Michel, Chief Operating Officer, has relocated to the U.S. and is tasked with expanding the team with roles expected to be filled in the quality, regulatory and manufacturing functions. On November 1, Mr. Nick Plummer joined the Company as Group General Counsel.

Intellectual Property

27 patent families (plus three in-licensed families) covering both human and animal use of Volition’s Nucleosomics™ platform. 82 granted patents (12 in the U.S., 14 in Europe and 56 rest of world). 82 patents pending. Continued focus on filings during the third quarter of 2021 and expect portfolio to grow in the quarters and years ahead.

We were delighted to be contacted again by JEOL, the Japanese-owned global group, which is involved in cutting edge science and technology to spotlight their latest project in front of the international Euromar convention.

We travelled to Japan to film at the company’s various facilities after we were first introduced to JEOL, which is a leading global supplier of electron microscopes, ion beam instruments, mass spectrometers and NMR spectrometers.

We are now looking at ways of developing our relationship with JEOL who are competing at the highest level in their field.

See the latest video that we created for them, here:

Those who remember the classic movie Jerry Maguire will know the meaning of the quote:”It was only a mission statement” and the potential pitfalls of creating such a promise.

With the 15th year of our business fast approaching, we remember nervously drawing up our own mantra for our new company when we launched back in 2007 – “we will only work with people we like, on projects we believe in”, we boldly said.

This statement was still very much in our minds when we put together some of our company’s highlights of 2021 against the background, of course, of a global pandemic.

So take a look at the projects we’ve completed in one of the toughest years ever for doing business and judge for yourselves…oh, and it obviously turned out well for Jerry in the end!