AquaNab funding backs feed-delivered sea-lice nanoantibodies
Nordic Foodtech VC has invested in AquaNab’s pre-proof-of-concept salmon health platform, though the deal size and terms were not reported.
By Ingrid Halvorsen · Venture Capital Reporter
· 3 min read
AquaNab funding for sea lice has come from Nordic Foodtech VC, giving the Hamburg biotech capital to advance a feed-administered nanoantibody programme for Atlantic salmon. The supplied reporting does not disclose the investment amount, valuation, ownership stake or timetable, leaving this as an early development financing rather than a commercial-product launch.
According to Tech.eu, the investment is Nordic Foodtech VC’s first outside the Nordic region. AquaNab was founded by Ruth Tamara Montero, Alejandro Rojas Fernandez and Gunnar Johildarson, and is developing precision immunotherapies for aquaculture, beginning with sea lice in salmon farming.
What will AquaNab’s sea-lice funding support?
The company plans to use the investment to move its lead programme toward proof of concept, broaden work with salmon producers, feed manufacturers and animal-health companies, and work toward commercialising its first products. AquaNab has not disclosed proof-of-concept results or evidence that its candidate works against sea lice in farm settings.
AquaNab calls its molecules AquaNabs. The company says the alpaca-derived nanoantibodies can be administered through feed, cross a fish’s intestinal barrier and reach the bloodstream. That is a company research claim in the reporting, rather than independently validated efficacy data. If the delivery approach holds up, it could offer a potentially less-invasive alternative to existing methods, which Tech.eu reports can include chemical and mechanical delousing and can raise fish-welfare and environmental concerns.
The initial target is Atlantic salmon. AquaNab says the underlying platform could later be adapted for bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases in other aquaculture species. That broader use case remains an ambition, not a disclosed product pipeline or commercial plan.
Sea-lice alternatives remain at a development stage
Sea lice are a persistent operating problem for salmon producers, but estimates of their economic effect vary with the population and costs counted. Tech.eu cites an estimate of about $4 billion a year for global aquaculture, including treatment, production losses and fish mortality. Separate 2024 reporting by Responsible Seafood Advocate put the worldwide cost of protecting, managing and treating salmon affected by sea lice at up to $1 billion annually.
Biological approaches are being pursued beyond AquaNab. A Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre-backed project involving the University of Stirling, AQUATRECK Animal Health and Moredun Scientific received almost £50,000 in 2024 to assess a vaccine technology against adult lice after an earlier proof-of-concept phase. That work is distinct from AquaNab’s nanoantibody approach, but it shows that potential alternatives to established lice-control methods are still being tested rather than established as standard practice.
For AquaNab, the immediate test is narrower: whether its feed-administered nanoantibodies can progress from the company’s delivery research to proof of concept for its first salmon-focused programme.
This story draws on original reporting from Tech.eu.
