NUI Maynooth spin-out company to combat world food problem

Beemune Ltd, - a new company spun out from NUI Maynooth – has been formed to tackle one of the biggest threats to global food production: the widespread disease and premature death of the world’s bee population.

Beemune, has the unique potential to immediately begin solving a major problem for the $500 billion global food crop industry, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan T.D. said today. Beemune is an Enterprise Ireland supported spin-out which will lead to significant wealth creation and high value job creation over the next 3 years. It is an export company, selling into the $3.5 billion commercial honeybee market with its main focus on US, Australia and New Zealand.

Speaking at the launch, The Tánaiste said 'food production, like climate control is a pressing global issue. If the current situation prevails there will be drastic consequences for food production, including how much food is available, how much it costs and how good it is. Beemune provides solutions that increase the health of the bee population and offers great immediate hope for farmers throughout the world.'

'The Government are pursuing a strategy of increasing the number of indigenous, innovative start-up companies that will lead to job creation and increased volumes of exports and Beemune is an excellent example of this strategy in action, which I am delighted to launch today,' she added.

Over the past decade, commercially managed honeybees, vital for the production of up to 40% of all fruit and vegetables have suffered from increasing ill health due to factors including monoculture, parasites, new pesticides and reducing gene pools. This problem was greatly exacerbated in 2007 by a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in which almost two-thirds of the entire commercial bee population was wiped out during the winter hibernation season. The causes of CCD are not yet understood but the problem is most acute in the United States, with mainland Europe and Australia also affected.

Beemune’s products are food additives, developed after more than two years of research at NUI Maynooth by Dr Kevin Kavanagh, a world renowned expert in insect biology and immunology. Current trials have shown the products rapidly improve the health and vitality of bee colonies and Beemune expects to bring its low-cost, highly effective products to the worldwide market in 6-18months. Test products are currently being produced at NUI Maynooth in support of ongoing field trials. The company intends to reinvest a significant proportion of its revenues to build a substantial Research and Development centre in Ireland over the next 3 years.

With the natural honeybee population no longer sufficient to support agriculture, farmers around the world have become increasingly reliant, over the last 30 years, on commercially managed bee colonies to pollinate their crops. In the US alone, there are 2.5m bee hives, of which 1.5m are used to commercially pollinate crops, moving with the seasons, from farm to farm, crop to crop, pollinating the foods that ultimately end up on consumers’ tables in every country. This industry is worth an estimated €3.5 billion globally.

'It is no exaggeration to say that the commercial bee industry would not be able to survive another CCD epidemic like in 2007. This winter saw no major improvement, and the reasons for the deaths of bees are still unknown. Elsewhere, efforts have focused on trying to find what is causing the problem, Beemune is focusing on improving the overall health of bees and our results are extremely promising,' said Dr Kevin Kavanagh, biologist at NUI Maynooth and Chief Scientific Officer of Beemune.

Beemune produces natural, safe foodstuff ingredients which improve the nutrition of bees and in so doing aims to improve their overall health, immune system and ability to survive stresses caused by the environment and modern farming methods. The company will be focused on the export markets in Europe, US, Australia and New Zealand.

Beemune Chief Executive David Moody says 'the problem facing beekeepers and farmers is immediate. Any product that can make a contribution to the health and vitality of bees should be brought to market as quickly as possible. Targeting bee feeds is the best way for us to do this. There are over 20 million commercial bee colonies in the world that could benefit from our product. We will use all means, including partnering with leading producers of bee feeds, to accelerate uptake of our products.'

NUI Maynooth President, Professor John Hughes said the University was proud to be at the forefront of such important research.

'Ireland is proving that it can play its part in providing research solutions to emerging global issues in every field. At NUI Maynooth we place a premium on real-world experience, prioritising partnership with industry for the benefit of our students and researchers. The University has over 50 active contracts with industry and over the past 12 months has signed 9 licence agreements and spun out 3 companies showing immense potential, of which Beemune is the latest, exciting example.'

Beemune will have product available to the export market in summer 2010. The company is currently conducting R&D to develop different formulations for other bee illness.

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