Iowa’s leadership in corn, pork and poultry production combined with a thriving investment community and growing startup ecosystem have made it the perfect home for a new company looking to reinvent how vaccines are delivered to animals.
Mazen Animal Health Inc was founded in 2016 by chief executive officer Jenny Filbey, PhD to develop and commercialize oral vaccine technology for animals. The company’s novel vaccine platform uses corn as a biofactory for the production of recombinant vaccines.
“Oral vaccines help solve a significant challenge for livestock producers, allowing them to administer important vaccines to protect the health of animals without the labor and safety issues of injecting vaccines,” said Filbey. “By delivering vaccines through a feed source like corn, we are providing a cost-effective solution that minimizes disruption to the animal’s routine and reduces labor at the farm level.”
Mazen Animal Health boasts a robust pipeline, comprising three products across two species that have demonstrated efficacy in animal trials, with additional products expanding into aquaculture and companion animals in the future.
The first lead vaccine product targets Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) in swine. PEDV causes widespread mortality in newborn pigs. The vaccine is designed to immunize the pregnant sows so that they can provide protection to the newborn pigs via their milk. Kent Innovation Team supported the sow studies that demonstrated lactogenic immunity and has since been in active partnership with Mazen to bring their PEDV product to the market.
The second lead vaccine product addresses Coccidiosis (Cocci) in poultry. Cocci is a parasitic disease which causes intestinal lesions in the gut of chickens. Mazen is developing a multi-valent vaccine to address the three most prevalent species of Eimeria. Cocci is currently managed with antibiotics and live vaccines. Mazen’s approach offers a new way to address Cocci without the introduction of live disease, thus reducing the presence of pathogens in the system.
Funding for pipeline products and staff
Mazen is currently raising capital which will be used for commercialization of PEDV and Cocci, production and manufacturing scale-up as well as further development of the product pipeline.
Previously, Mazen closed a $12 million Series A round of funding in May 2022 to support development of the PEDV & Cocci products, addition of new products to the pipeline, as well as growing the team. The round was led by Fall Line Capital and joined by all the seed investors, including Next Level Ventures, Kent Corporation, Ag Startup Engine, Ag Ventures Alliance, ISAV and Summit Ag. In addition, new investors, AgFunder, 1330 Investments, and others participated in the financing.
In 2024, Mazen received a grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship to explore developing an African Swine Fever (ASF) virus oral vaccine. This grant aims to support Iowa-based companies in the development of safe and effective vaccines to enhance the preparedness of the Iowa livestock sector against foreign animal diseases. Iowa’s investment reflects confidence in Mazen’s technological capabilities in combating such diseases.
Iowa investors and startup community deliver value
Filbey said that one of the biggest challenges in launching the company has been investment funding, especially as the company’s research and development is both in developing plant genetics and raising crops to produce the vaccine, and in the animal health sector to deliver oral vaccines to livestock and poultry.
“I was introduced to Iowa investors that understood both plant and animal sectors and the value of the technology with the potential it could have for agriculture,” said Filbey. “We were excited that a group of dynamic, Iowa-based investors participated in our seed funding round and again in our Series A round and have provided connections and resources far beyond a financial investment as well.
“It has been a collaborative effort at all levels and we’ve found a great startup community in Iowa,” said Filbey. “Every meeting we go to, people are asking ‘what can we do to help?’, I’ve worked in a lot of states and that has never happened before.”
Mazen currently employs five individuals based in Iowa, with a total workforce of 21. The company’s headquarters is located at the Iowa State University Research Park. The team includes leaders overseeing strategy, technical development, regulatory affairs, production, and manufacturing. Over the past 18 months, Mazen has experienced remarkable growth, establishing a world-class R&D facility in Research Triangle Park, NC, a manufacturing site in Mason City, IL, and a production facility in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
Originally published October 2022, updated June 2024.