| 1997 |
Vita (Europe) Ltd formed after a management buy-out
|
Vita (Europe) Ltd is founded in
1997 in the UK as a result of a management buy-out
from Novartis (Sandoz-Ciba), the pharmaceutical
giant.
Dr Max Watkins, a scientific authority on
pest management, and Jeremy Owen, a marketing
and sales executive, undertake the MBO
and establish Vita with the mission of producing
advanced honeybee health products and
investigating mite control in other industries. |
| Vita
supplies honeybee parasite control product
across the globe |
Purchasing the intellectual
rights to the acaracide Apistan internationally
(except in the USA and Canada), Vita adopts
a global network of distributors and is immediately
operational.
Apistan is Vita’s first
product to target varroa, the mite which has
been decimating untreated colonies of the Apis mellifera honeybee
across the globe. Apistan is still the
world’s
most widely-used varroa control. |
| Vita
establishes its first collaboration with universities |
Vita begins investigations on
the use of honeybee pheromones to inhibit the
development of honeybee parasites with the University
of Udine in Italy.
Although this research has not yet led to
a commercial product, it is yielding
valuable knowledge about the role of pheromones
in honeybee colonies. The huge potential for
such a product ensures the continuation
of this work. |
| 1998 |
Vita’s Apistan
registered in UK
|
Following lobbying from British beefarmers and
beekeeping organizations, Apistan is officially
registered for use in the UK. |
| Vita
develops first laboratory test for varroa resistance |
With the inevitable appearance
of mites resistant to current treatments, Vita
develops an essential tool to reliably identify
this phenomenon. Vita produces the first rigorous
laboratory testing methodology to identify resistant
mites. This tool is quickly adopted by the UK
Government and other key organizations across
the world. |
| Field
test for resistant varroa released |
Following the success of its laboratory
test for treatment-resistant varroa, Vita develops
a rigorous and reliable field test to enable
beekeepers to test their colonies for varroa
at the hiveside. |
| Vita
begins investigations for mite control in agriculture
and horticulture |
In its work to discover ecologically-sensitive
means to control honeybee mites, Vita discovers
a potentially highly effective miticide derived
from active ingredients known to be benign to
humans. Work begins to test and refine the formulation
and to develop a commercial product. |
| 1999 |
Vita leads partnership to find biological
treatment for Foulbroods
|
A collaboration of Vita and the University
of Cardiff, with financial support from the
UK Beefarmers Association and the British Beekeepers
Association, begins to investigate treatment
for European and American Foulbroods (EFB &AFB) Foulbroods
(EFB & AFB) are the most significant honeybee
health concerns facing beekeeping globally.
The search for a new EFB & AFB treatment is urgent because antibiotics — the
only non-destructive existing treatment for Foulbroods — are becoming
less effective in some parts of the world and may leave residues in the hive
and honey. Vita plans to develop a biological control. |
| Apiguard
formulations tested across the globe |
Vita runs international tests
involving universities and institutes across
the world for its forthcoming varroa treatment,
Apiguard.
Apiguard is a sophisticated slow-release
gel that ensures correct dosage of a naturally-occurring
active ingredient, thymol. Thymol has been
proven to have a high efficacy against varroa
and is also effective in combating tracheal
mites and chalkbrood. |
| Vita
receives UK Government Smart Award and Link
Award |
In recognition of the rigour and
prospects for Vita’s work, the UK Government
gives the company two major investment awards:
a Smart Award and a Link Award. The Awards are
specifically designated for work to extend Vita’s
mite treatments into other agricultural and horticultural
arenas. |
| |
|
| 2002 |
Apiguard,
Vita’s new varroa
product receives EC licence
|
Apiguard, a new natural product
control for varroa, is registered for use throughout
the European Union.
This new product, developed by Vita, complements the company’s first flagship
product, Apistan, by offering a completely different formulation which can therefore
be used alongside Apistan in an Integrated Pest Management Programme to guard
against resistance build-up.
|
| Chalkbrood
products tests across the globe |
Vita collaborates with a Veterinary
Institute in Israel, the Tierhygienisches Institutin
Germany and a bee keeping centre in Thailand
to investigate a biological control for chalkbrood.
Currently there is no effective treatment
for chalkbrood, a fungal disease of honeybee
larvae that severely debilitates honeybee colonies
in certain parts of the world. |
| 2003 |
Vita produces diagnostic kit for deadly bee
disease
|
Vita begins field tests on new
acaracide which shows great promise in controlling
a huge range of mites affecting many different
economic sectors. |
| Tests
on agricultural miticide formulations |
Vita produces a rapid on-site
diagnostic kit for both European and American
Foulbrood (EFB /AFB) in partnership with the
Pocket Diagnostics section at the UK Central
Science Laboratory.
Caused by the Paenibacillus bacterium,
AFB is highly infectious and one of the deadliest
honeybee diseases in the world. Vita’s new, easy-to-use
kits, which are similar to human pregnancy-testing technology, passes stringent
reliability tests and enables rapid diagnosis and fast treatment of AFB/EFB-infected
honeybee colonies to prevent further spread of the disease. |
