Multinational animal biotechnology firm Alltech looks at a stronger Asia Pacific presence as its “nutrigenomics” initiatives is providing cheaper feed and nutrition supplement to poultry, livestock and aqua industries which gives it a $100-million value in the region.

Alltech President Pearse Lyons told an Asia Pacific Lecture Tour that new Alltech products resulting from its operation of a Nutrigenomics Center are significantly cutting feed and animal nutrition costs for the animal industry which is beset by high cost of input such as corn and soybean. This should propel growth for the company.

“This is leading Alltech into a whole new understanding of animal nutrition for optimal health and performance,” he said at a briefing Friday. Max Purser, Southeast Asia general Manager said the Asia Pacific region is projected to hit a $100 million revenue this year, a 20 to 25 percent growth. Of this, five percent will come from the Philippines.

“Growth is coming from our working directly with end users. The Philippines is going to be strong because of its growing population relative to the rest of the world,” said Purser in an interview.

Alltech Philippines has been concentrating on six major products that's bringing in 80 percent of its revenue, according to Noel M. Cuyno, Alltech Philippines general manager.

These include enzymes, micotoxin binders, biomos, and its selenium products all of which enhance production efficiency in animals.

Purser explained that the company is helping pig farmers cut costs and days to market out of products that cut hogs' growing period from 180 to 190 days down to just 145-150 days.

“They get a savings of 60 to 70 kilos of feed with better nutrition, by improving productivity and quality of piglet,” he said. Specifically, these products cut growing cost by P200 to as much as P1,000 per metric ton, according to Cuyno.

The company put up just in April 2008 a Nutrigenomics Center in Nicholasville, Kentucky which is the first of its kind in the world. It is facility whose gene expression studies result in better animal health and nutrition products.

“Our animal nutritionists are able to significantly reduce the level of increasingly expensive ingredients such as antioxidant vitamins added to animal diets without compromising performance. This is using knowledge in molecular mechanisms of oxidative stress and intracellular signaling cascades combined with nutrigenomics and DNA microarray or gene chip,” said Alltech.

The company's products are the SSF (solid state fermentation), a naturally occurring enzyme complex that improves digestibility of feed; NuPro, a source of protein, amino acids and vitamins from select strains of yeast; and Sel-Plex, selenium in natural form and wast he first selenium approved in Europe for all animals supporting absorption and biological activity in animals.