Ohio State Startups - Animal Health

Aptimmune Biologics Inc.

License fiscal year: 2015
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Renukaradhya Gourapura
College: Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Department: Food Animal Health Research Program
Leadership: Heather Bessoff
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: St. Louis, MO
Description: Aptimmune Biologics specializes in developing mucosal vaccines to protect against the most costly viral diseases affecting the swine industry. Its first vaccines are focused on addressing two major viral respiratory pathogens, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Virus (PRRSV) and Influenza A virus in swine (IAV-S).

Larad Inc.

License fiscal year: 2014
Ohio State primary inventor(s): Daral Jackwood
College: Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
Department: Food Animal Health Research Program
Leadership: H. Ken Rudd
Ownership status: Privately held
Headquarters: Wooster, OH
Description: LARAD is developing platform virus-like-particle (VLP) technology for improved vaccines and diagnostics for food-animal diseases. LARAD’s VLP technology is highly flexible and can be customized in response to viral mutation, allowing pharmaceutical companies to update their product and bring updated vaccines to market quickly. Additionally, LARAD’s VLP vaccines are produced using an expression system that yields higher quantities of product without the need for extensive downstream processing, reducing the cost of production and the time needed to process a final product. Vaccine and diagnostic reagents under development include infectious bursal disease virus VLP vaccine, Avian Reovirus vaccine, Chicken Anemia Virus vaccine and Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus (IPNV) vaccine.