A major challenge facing america's dairy farms is the frequent occurrence of bacterial infections in dairy cattle

Giner, Inc. received a $181,429 Project Grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (CFDA 10.212), awarded September 15, 2025, with completion targeted for May 14, 2026. The award supports the development and testing of a bacteriophage-based antimicrobial product designed to address bovine mastitis, a widespread bacterial infection affecting approximately 30% of dairy cattle during milking periods. The product consists of a proprietary blend of naturally-occurring bacteriophages—natural bacterial predators that pose no safety risk to cattle or humans—formulated with safe ingredients for direct application to animal skin, including teats, udders, and compromised skin areas to eliminate harmful bacteria on contact.

The funded research and development activities encompass optimization of the bacteriophage blend for enhanced skin adhesion, temperature stability, and effectiveness against target pathogens, followed by validation through a live-animal study conducted at the University of New Hampshire. The project aims to demonstrate meaningful reduction in harmful bacteria relative to untreated controls without adverse effects to animal skin. Upon successful completion, the product is intended to serve as a drop-in replacement for current sanitation methods, offering dairy farmers an antibiotic-free alternative that addresses the critical industry challenge of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains while preserving milk production and reducing economic losses associated with antibiotic treatment protocols.

Even when good sanitary practices are maintained, upwards of 30% of dairy cattle are dealing with infections during the milking period. Mammary gland infections in cows, a condition known as bovine mastitis, causes abnormal milk production and is typically treated with antibiotics. Continued antibiotic use has led to antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains, and milk from dairy cattle undergoing antibiotic treatments must be discarded. Antibiotic-resistant strains lead to longer lasting infections and discarding milk results in a significant cost to the farmer. This challenge presents an opportunity for the development of new methods that reduce the risk of mastitis, avoid the use of antibiotics, and secure american dairy farms.giner's approach to solve this issue utilizes bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are the natural predators of bacteria which are effective at destroying harmful bacteria, pose no safety concerns to dairy cattle or humans, and can be grown in high volumes at low cost. These naturally-occurring bacteriophages will be part of a proprietary blend of safe ingredients that will be applied directly to animal skin (teats, udders and compromised skin areas) to eliminate harmful bacteria on contact and provide prolonged protection while leaving the animal unharmed. Giner's bacteriophage blend will be optimized to adhere well to animal skin, survive a wide temperature range and demonstrate effectiveness towards harmful bacteria. After several development rounds of optimization, giner's product will be applied directly to dairy cattle as part of a live-animal study performed at the university of new hampshire. The goal of the study is to demonstrate a reduction in harmful bacteria relative to untreated cows with no negative impacts to the animal skin. If this goal is met, the product is intended to be a drop-in replacement to current sanitation methods and can be adopted by dairy farms across america. This will increase the milk yield of dairy farms, reduce reliance on antibiotics, and decrease losses farmers face from mastitis.