Alpaca antibodies could be key to battling sea lice
A Hamburg-based biotechnology company says it may have developed a decisive weapon in the war against sea lice – “nanoantibodies” derived from the immune system of the alpaca.
German biotech AquaNab says its treatment, delivered through fish feed, offers a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical and mechanical delousing.
CEO and experienced fish immunologist Dr. Ruth Tamara Montero told Fish Farmer: “"Alpacas don’t naturally have antibodies against sea lice. Instead, we use a unique feature of the alpaca immune system.
“Like humans, alpacas produce antibodies to fight infections. However, they also produce an unusually small type of antibody called a nanoantibody. These nanoantibodies are exceptionally stable, highly specific, and well suited for biotechnology applications. Since they are small, they reach places (targets) that conventional antibodies don’t.
“To develop our product, alpacas are exposed to selected molecules from the sea louse. Their immune system naturally produces nanobodies that recognise those molecules. We then identify the most effective nanoantibodies and produce them as purified proteins using established biomanufacturing methods.”
These proteins have been shown to survive the digestive process, passing into the fish’s system and becoming part of its immune defence against sea lice.
Dr Montero added that that the process, does not require any kind of genetic modification – it is a strictly protein-based solution.
‘Sea lice is just the start’
AquaNab was co-founded by Dr. Ruth Tamara Montero, Dr. Alejandro Rojas Fernandez, and Gunnar Johildarson in Hamburg with a mission to transform aquaculture through robust, low-cost, and sustainable precision immuno-therapeutics.
The company’s first product is being developed for Atlantic salmon, but the platform is designed to be adapted to bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases across multiple aquaculture species.
Dr Montero said: “Animal welfare and fish health remain the biggest challenges facing sustainable aquaculture, and producers need better tools to protect it.
“Sea lice is just the start. Right now, producers are stuck choosing between costly, stressful treatments and losses from the parasite itself. We want to give them a way out of that cycle, one that protects their fish, their business, and helps secure the future of food.”
AquaNab has secured an investment from Nordic Foodtech VC, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on solving the hardest problems in food and agriculture, to support the development of its technology. AquaNab represents the first investment outside the Nordics for the venture capital.
Mika Kukkurainen, Partner at Nordic Foodtech, said, “AquaNab has the potential to transform not only how disease is managed in aquaculture, but how we think about health and resilience across food production. By turning advanced nanoantibody science into a practical, feed-based solution, the team is creating a pathway from breakthrough biotechnology to measurable outcomes in farming: lower losses, healthier animals, and greater efficiency. This is the kind of technology that can reshape an industry.”
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