Company History
MariCal, Inc. headquartered in Portland, Maine was founded in 1996 and is a privately held animal health and nutrition biotechnology company.
The Company's proprietary technology is based on the fundamental roles that polyvalent cation and nutrient sensing receptors called Calcium Sensing Receptor (CaSR) proteins play in the physiological processes of the various life stages of animals.
CaSRs were discovered and first characterized in food and companion animals by the Co-Founders of MariCal including MariCal's President and Chief Scientific Officer H.W. Harris M.D., Ph.D., Edward M. Brown, M.D. of Harvard Medical School and Chairman of MariCal Scientific Advisory Board and Steven C. Hebert, M.D. of Yale University School of Medicine in 1993 when they were working together as faculty members at Harvard Medical School.
MariCal's research has uncovered that the CaSR protein serves as a biological "master switch" enabling animals, including humans, fish, livestock and companion animals to sense and respond to changes in their extracellular environments such as alterations in water salinity and nutritional composition.
MariCal possesses the intellectual property rights to the calcium sensing receptor for aquatic and non-human terrestrial animal (food and companion animal) applications and currently has 35 issued and pending patents in this field.
In 2002, MariCal's research led to a series of discoveries recognizing that CaSRs are fundamental salinity-nutrient sensing receptors in aquatic organisms and central to osmotic regulation.
MariCal introduced its first commercial application of the CaSR technology to the global salmon aquaculture industry for improved smoltification of salmonid species, the SuperSmolt® Program.
In 2006, MariCal introduced its second aquaculture industry application of the CaSR technology for the low salinity production of marine food fish, specifically, cobia. MariCal commercialized this technology application through the joint venture formation of Low Salinity Inc. (LSI), the parent company to Virginia Cobia Farms.
Also in 2006, MariCal acquired worldwide exclusive license for calcium receptor applications to mammalian and non-mammalian species utilized for food production or companion animals.
Today, MariCal's research is focused on animal health and nutrition and the development of the CaSR technology for performance enhancement, prophylactic and. therapeutic applications, and general health in poultry, swine, beef, dairy, horses, dogs, and cats.
