Elanco Animal Health Inc. announced June 27 a new global research and development (R&D) collaboration with AgBiome Inc. to develop nutritional health products for swine.

Elanco said the collaboration further demonstrates its "commitment to antibiotic stewardship and bringing alternatives to producers’ most difficult challenges."

The R&D collaboration with AgBiome is intended to deliver innovative probiotic solutions to some of swine producers’ greatest gut health challenges, Elanco said, noting that it will leverage AgBiome’s proprietary strain identification system and provide Elanco with access to AgBiome’s extensive and growing collection of bacteria, virus and fungus strains.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Elanco said it will combine AgBiome’s success in crop science with its expertise in animal health to bring innovative new solutions. This agreement furthers Elanco’s targeted, value-generating Innovation, Portfolio & Productivity strategy, bringing a consistent, sustainable flow of innovation in the fast-growing nutritional health market.

“AgBiome’s vast strain library and unique knowledge and methods for strain identification and development are particularly interesting to Elanco,” said Aaron Schacht, executive vice president of innovation, regulatory and business development at Elanco. “Identifying and developing new products and tools to help manage the animal’s microbiome, control infections and reduce gut inflammation while decreasing the need for medically important antibiotics is a top priority for Elanco.”

“We are excited to be creating novel products for animal nutrition using the microbial technology and data science tools in our Genesis platform,” said Eric Ward, co-chief executive officer of AgBiome. “Elanco's entrepreneurial spirit and deep commitment to developing novel solutions for animal health make them an ideal partner for AgBiome.”

Elanco said it is also committed to bringing greater clarity and collaboration to issues surrounding antibiotic stewardship. The company released an aggressive, multifaceted, eight-point Antibiotic Stewardship Plan in 2015 that includes: (1) increasing responsible antibiotic use, (2) reducing the need for shared-class antibiotics and (3) replacing antibiotics with alternatives to help livestock producers treat and prevent animal disease.

The plan includes a commitment to deliver antibiotic alternatives, such as vaccines, enzymes and probiotics, Elanco said, noting that the AgBiome collaboration will drive additional progress toward that commitment with solutions for conditions in swine.

Founded in 1954, Elanco provides comprehensive products and knowledge services to improve animal health and food animal production in more than 90 countries.