Vaccine news of a different sort

A&L Biological Inc. moves its first commercial products into the registration phase

Photo: Nevin McDougall, A&L Canada Laboratories president and COO (file photo)

IF ALL THE recent talk of vaccinations and viruses has left you asking, “But what about the cucumbers?”, then there’s a bit of good news coming your way, as London’s A&L Biological Inc. announced on Tuesday that have submitted a new protective treatment for regulatory approval.

Called Cuc-Guard, the technology was developed through A&L’s research and development platform and has shown to be effective in dealing with Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus — not exactly a household name like a certain other virus you might have heard about, but not dissimilar either, in that it is difficult to control and can be devastating to crops like cucumbers, watermelons, zucchinis, pumpkins and more.

Cuc-Guard acts as a “vaccine” for target crops to prevent the infection and spread of the pathogen. Efficacy data indicates that when applied preventatively, Cuc-Guard provides control of the pathogen and improves both crop quality and yield, the company said, noting that Cut-Guard is the “first of several plant vaccine solutions” that they intend to develop.

That’s not all they’ve been up to lately, either. A&L also submitted a bio-stimulant called AL-BIO 7, which it says has shown “significant improvement in plant vigour,” particularly when it comes to transplanting crops. According to the company, if approved, such a product could be very useful to growers of high-value crops like tomatoes and cannabis — two crops which often struggle when subjected to transplant.

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The stimulant “has demonstrated the ability to overcome this ‘shock’ event and provide for improved crop establishment,” the company said. (For the legal weed industry, in particular during its early days, crop failures were a regular hiccup as growers adjusted to highly regulated systems.)

“We have been working hard towards commercialization of these new technologies and are excited to be introducing our first products to market in Canada within the next 12 to 24 months,” says Nevin McDougall, president and chief commercial officer for A&L Canada Laboratories. “Our next steps will be following through with international registrations and launches.”

These two submissions mark the first gestures towards the market for A&L Biological, a subsidiary of A&L Canada Laboratories. As such, the company is also gearing up to grow, announcing in December that they had brought on Rob Field as business development manager.

“Rob will provide leadership to the company in its transformation from a ‘boutique’ research house to a fully commercial company,” A&L said in a press release. Kieran Delamont