As part of our commitment to producing the best and most reliable donor serum in the industry, Central Biomedia, Inc. (CBI) maintains the largest true donor horse serum herd in the United States at our Irwin facility. The animals are maintained under conditions specified by Title 9 Code of Federal Regulations (9 CFR) 113.450(c) and 117.3, enforced by USDA, Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB). Our Irwin facility is a federally inspected equidae blood collection and processing facility, USDA approval number MO-TEC-0001.
The horses are dry lotted and fed a carefully controlled diet that we’ve developed over decades of experience to ensure that the horse are maintained in very good health and resulting in our donor horse serum being of uncompromised quality and consistency. Along with their feed, the horses are also given high-quality alfalfa and unlimited access to fresh water. The feed and hay are consistently monitored and tested for quality. The health and well-being of our horses is important to us—and it’s important to the quality of our serum—so our herd is monitored by a certified on-staff Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. All animals are given a complete physical examination at least once annually.
Our herd is made up of all gelding draft animals, weighing 1700 lbs. or greater, who were preferably 3-7 years old at the time of purchase. As part of our commitment to the health and well-being of our herd, horses that come in as pairs are kept together. Likewise, newly purchased horses are not eligible for serum donation until they meet the minimum health and weight requirements. Prior to acceptance into the herd, all of our horses are tested negative for: Dourine, Glanders, Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA), Brucellosis, Piroplasmosis, Equine Viral Arteritis.
In addition, each horse is tested for EIA using the Coggins (AGID) test every six months. The animals are identified by number without branding.
Because of our rigorous environmental controls and careful verification procedures, we’re able to offer an unprecedented level of traceability for our donor horse serum. Serum can be traced back to the specific animal from which it was collected, along with the day the animal was bled, the staff member who collected the blood, and the day and time that it was processed into serum. Every horse has a comprehensive, detailed file that provides information on diet, health, and the history of the animal in question. As a founding member of the International Serum Industry Association (ISIA), we have been ISIA Traceability Certified by an independent audit.
Our traceability allows us to offer increased flexibility to our customers, giving us the ability to optimize the final product in a variety of ways to fit our customers’ needs. Our customers can pre-select animals based on a range of criteria, or request adjustments to our usual processes to develop serum for specific components. Whatever our customers need, we have the flexibility and the quality commitment to make it happen, and make it happen right.
The serum we collect from our donor herd continually aids the biotech and veterinary biologics industry. Most of the serum is used in cell culture for research and production of both human and animal products. Our subsidiary, Sera Inc., uses this serum in the production of their USDA licensed Seramune product line which has saved thousands of newborn foals throughout the years from Failure of Passive Transfer.