Early warning system for enteropathies in intensive broiler farming.

Project Information

BEAWARE

Grant agreement ID: 835770

DOI

10.3030/835770

Project closed

EC signature date 12 November 2018

Start date 1 December 2018

End date 31 May 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

BLOOMVET SRL
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BEAWARE (Early warning system for enteropathies in intensive broiler farming.)

Reporting period: 2018-12-01 to 2019-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

BloomVet developed a new disruptive Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) analysis technology called EnteroDetectAVI able to early identify, in the environmental air, any early signs of enteric disease with a Prediction Service for farmers. This new technology plays an important role supporting Vets in diagnosis. During the feasibility study, the company was able to validate, with the contribution of a number of experimenter users (potential early adopters), the technical feasibility of the project.
The feasibility study verified the comparison between the results and alarms reported by EnteroDetectAVI and the results from laboratory analysis, (GOLD STANDARD), demonstrating that this technology provides a real and effective contribution to the Vets ‘and farmers’ needs.
The company worked also on the business validation of the project, with a careful analysis of the business model of the service and with the identification of key partners for the commercial success of the project, going to review the business plan (with the evidence emerged from the validation) and identifying the best options for the next phase of go-to-market.
The market has appreciated the approach on which the project is based, identifying the main points of interest on its non-invasiveness in the daily operating context, and on the simplicity of installation.
Another aspect very positively evaluated by the market is the speed with which the product can become aware of the presence of a possible infection and the possibility of 24/7 monitoring.
These features are crucial to ensure animal welfare, to increase productivity and to reduce the use of drugs (i.e. antibiotics) with an undeniable advantage on the quality and the safety of animal’s products making the farming system more sustainable

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

1) Technical Feasibility
● Validate the technical feasibility and production costs of the BEAWARE solution – EnteroDetectAVI - and identify any installation problems and operational maintenance;
● identify the technological strategies necessary for the transition of the prototype to a product, including the identification of potential partners able to integrate the technology effectively and efficiently;
● plan the necessary activities (risks assessment, mitigation and contingency measures) and resources to further develop and optimize the solution proposed with the BEAWARE project;
● FTO analysis, definition of IPR strategies, and legal implications assessment for BEAWARE.
2) Business Feasibility
● In-depth market study of the European market and identification of the markets of greatest interest in the poultry sector in order to start marketing the service downstream of the further product integrations envisaged in phase 2 of the project;
● Refine the commercialization and dissemination strategies for EnteroDetectAVI to allow access to European target markets. Evaluate commercial risks and define mitigation strategies;
● Validation of the business model with customers involved in the first phase of testing, identification of any adaptations and changes to make the product and solution easily acceptable to the identified market and identification of the marketing model of the service.
3) Financial Feasibility
● Perform a full cost/benefit analysis, evaluating the total investment to bring EnteroDetectAVI to the market;
● Quantify the expected profitability and payback period of the BEAWARE project and estimate the Financial Projections for the subsequent 5 years.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Within the reporting period, the company has identified a new model for the detection of enteropathy in farms, thanks to the analysis of air flows circulating in the same, useful in order to identify early alarms useful to the bred to reduce the use of antibiotics in the treatment of animals, allowing both to improve their welfare and to obtain a healthier product for consumers.
The analysis system is based on a hardware terminal to be installed in the field, with a series of sensors that act as an electronic nose to analyze air quality, and a cloud processing system that through advanced algorithms of data correlation allow you to perform a very accurate and timely analysis about the presence of enteropathies.
As part of the technical activities of the feasibility study, the beneficiary company has also taken steps to activate all the necessary procedures for the definition of IPR policies to protect what has been developed. In particular, the company obtained the first patent registration in Italy (patent number 102016000059153 2016, June ,9th) and requested the subsequent extension in the EU, USA, Brazil and China. The patenting concerned the invention of a detection system of enteric disease in animals, and the related early warning. The device, with sensors, is capable to suction air from the environment where the animals are and to determine information about the type and concentration of odorous molecules. The protection of intellectual property rights adopted is a tool to facilitate the development and scalability of the proposed business model, through a unique product on the market that can solve a problem clearly identified in the reference market.