Phageguard announces outstanding feedback for EU subsidy application

Phageguard has today announced that its application for the EU subsidy application of a food safety project in poultry production has been placed in the top 1 percent of eligible applications.

Phageguard its submission for the Eurostars grant, an EU subsidy for applied scientific research and development, is based on the development of phage technology for the elimination of Campylobacter contamination in poultry farming and processing. Phageguard's Campylobacter phage application scored highly in all three of the evaluation criteria of the EU subsidy (market and commercialisation, innovation and R&D, and basic assessment) resulting in a total score of 506/600, nearly 100 points above the threshold for a quality result. The application was scrutinised by three independent experts commissioned by the EUREKA network.

The poultry farming industry has increasingly struggled with Campylobacter contamination since the advent of intensive poultry production has catalysed an increase in the rate of infection of livestock. Over 70% of poultry carcasses produced in the EU have been shown to be contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni or Campylobacter coli.

Mark Offerhaus, Micreos group CEO said:

''We are delighted that our application has been met with
such a positive assessment from the expert panel. Phageguard has a strong history in food safety,
and the challenge Campylobacter poses international poultry production is very significant; this
is a situation we see as being in urgent need of scientific innovation.''