Inovation on bovine early pregnancy diagnosis - hypothesis comprovation and product development

• Grant number: 17/12608-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: April 01, 2018
• End date: March 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: Erika da Silva Carvalho Morani
• Grantee: Erika da Silva Carvalho Morani
• Company: Inprenha Biotecnologia e Desenvolvimento Animal Ltda
• CNAE: Fabricação de medicamentos para uso veterinário ; Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais
• City: Jaboticabal
• Pesquisadores principais: Angelica Rodrigues de Souza

Abstract

Inprenha Biotecnologia acts on an impact in the Brazilian agribusiness scenario, seeking alternatives to reduce costs and boost animal production, always with biotechnological tools optimizing animal reproduction. In this context, the company is conducting R D in a cooperative and successful manner, with national (INPI0000921010993657-Dec / 2010) and international patent applications (PCTWO2012 / 083396A1-Jun / 2012), both co-owned with The USP, referring to Tolerana (innovation product / process that has shown extremely satisfactory technical feasibility in terms of the increase in the pregnancy tax rate), with several related grant projects (RHAE 550772 / 2011-1, PIPE-PHASE II 2011 / 50792- 5, CNPq / RHAE Edict 457787 / 2012-0- Track B and PIPE PAPE SUBSIDY-PHASE III 2012 / 51010-3 and PIPE PHASE III 2015 / 50681-0). In parallel, it invests in other R&D lines, focusing on extenders for semen cryopreservation and fertility prediction. It also seeks to reconcile important partners in the process and, also, to invest in human resources training and to raise new grant resources. In 2014, it received funding from one of the most experienced Latin American technology investors, SP Ventures, which manages resources from FAPESP, FINEP and foreign investors, enabling new investments in R&D and expanding its scope of products (semen extenders of roosters, turkeys, ruminants, equine and dogs), among others. It has built a laboratory of excellence and has been channeling efforts to the Tolerana Product Registry with MAPA (Governmental Regulatory Institutional). This scenario has enabled the multiplication of innovation ideas. The present project aims at the development of an ELISA kit for predicting the pregnancy of bovine females, based on the sum of the following hypotheses: (i) The level of circulating galectin-1 (GAL-1) in fertile females is higher than level in infertile one; (ii) infertile women have circulating anti-GAL-1 autoantibody (both information described by Ramhorst et al., 2012); (iii) the administration of exogenous rhGAL-1 in the uterine lumen of bovine females increases the pregnancy rate, at mean levels of 10 percentage points, with a certain variability expected in response to biological events and / or use of biological products. Thus, when verifying hypotheses (i) and (ii) in bovine females, in addition to elucidating the motive of the variation of results in the pregnancy rate with the use of exogenous rhGAL-1, a profile can be established that differentiates. It'll predicts the possibility of bovine females preimplantation, based on a profile determined by ELISA assay quantifying the concentration of circulating GAL-1 and / or anti-GAL1 autoantibody. The development of the innovation presented here would have an enormous impact on breeding programs and national and international livestock breeding, since the idea is to print decision speed on estrus re-synchronization, and also because, in the future, the data obtained here can be used as a tool of animal selection (as to the positive precedence history), an incessant search of researchers from all over the world. The validation of the innovative proposal has the potential of wide market penetration, due to its characteristics. Part of this technology was developed, as described on the history our plan. According to the history of the company, for the execution of this project, the partners are assisted in the execution of the proposed activities (mainly for field work requiring structure, maintenance and selection of animals) as well as for the participation of collaborating researchers. The format of the work developed so far has been quite prosperous and there are no national and / or international companies that make available on the market product and / or service similar to that presented and that have the use and form of action of the gender proposed in this project, hence the development. (AU)