Bioniche Life Sciences of Belleville is selling its animal
health division to Vetoquinol of France for $61 million.
The division has been up for sale since May as Bioniche
seeks money to pay for trials to gain approval to market a bladder
cancer-fighting drug, Urocidin.
Econiche, the vaccine that reduces E. coli 0157:H7 in cattle
destined for slaughter, is not included in the sale. It’s part of Bioniche’s
Health One division for which Bioniche is seeking a partner.
Econiche holds great promise, but has not been picked up as
widely as food-safety people would like, mainly because beef packers won’t pay
farmers a premium to cover the additional costs.
The biggest seller in the deal with Vetoquinol is
Folltropin, a hormone to stimulate superovulation for cattle embryo
transplants.
