AquaBounty Technologies has secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to raise AquAdvantage Salmon at its land-based contained facility near Albany, Indiana.
The FDA previously approved AquaBounty’s New Animal Drug Application (NADA) on November 19, 2015, for the production, sale, and consumption of AquAdvantage Salmon in the United States.
That approval specified that all production facilities for the product would require separate site-specific approvals. To conform with this requirement, the Company submitted a supplementary NADA to the FDA requesting approval to grow AquAdvantage Salmon at its farm site near Albany, Indiana.
The Indiana facility as currently configured has a production capacity of 1200 tons per year and was designed to allow significant expansion. With the facility now approved, commercial production of AquAdvantage Salmon awaits only official labeling guidelines by the FDA.
AquaBounty CEO Ron Stotish said: “This is another milestone in our journey to bring our healthy and sustainable salmon to consumers. We are very pleased the FDA has continued their rigorous science-based review process and approved our application on its merits.
“Our Albany facility is within a few hours' drive of major markets in Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Louisville, and St. Louis, providing us with tremendous opportunity for growth. We still have work to do before we can start production, but we take great pride in this latest accomplishment.”
Delaware County Commissioner Shannon Henry said: “We are extremely excited that a cutting-edge aquaculture company like AquaBounty chose Delaware County to grow their operation. The jobs being created at this facility and large capital investment is welcomed news. We will continue to support their efforts.”
