A Georgia biotech company that aims to save the world’s bee population raised $4.5 million to help fuel its growth globally.
Athens-based Dalan Animal Health, which last year moved into the University of Georgia’s Delta Innovation Hub, says it has developed the world’s first honeybee vaccine to protect the pollinators from a bacterial disease called American foulbrood, which can destroy an entire honeybee colony in as little as three weeks.
Jackson, Wyoming-based firm Prime Movers Lab led Dalan’s latest infusion of $4.5 million, with additional participation from San Francisco-based At One Ventures. At One Ventures led Dalan's second funding round last year. Its combined total funding is now $10 million.
The funding will help grow the company's distribution abroad, said Dalan CEO Annette Kreiser in a news release. Europe, at 20 million hives, outstrips the U.S. honeybee market, which has only 2.67 million hives.
Last month, Dalan shipped vaccines to a commercial beekeeper for the first time. The 500 doses could potentially protect up to 25 million bees at Tauzer Apiaries in California. That came after the company received a two-year conditional approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the vaccine at the start of this year.
Dalan’s new vaccine has the potential to bolster more than just honey production. About one-third of the American food supply comes from crops pollinated by honeybees, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Honeybees contribute to the pollination of crops such as almonds, apples, melons, squash, broccoli and avocados.
Dalan is one example of the growth in Georgia’s life sciences industry, which employed more than 78,000 people in 2021, a 20% increase from 2015, according to a Georgia Bio report released last year.
Venture capital also flowed into the state’s life sciences sector in 2021, hitting $530 million, far higher than the previous annual average of $159 million, according to the report.
Dalan currently has 12 employees, with plans to hire more. The company also wants to develop vaccines for other honeybee diseases as well as for shrimp, mealworms and insects used in agriculture.
Georgia Bio awarded Dalan its 2023 Innovation Award earlier this year.
