The Leech Farm

Biopharm Leeches is the UK’s only leech farm. Based in Swansea, it produces leeches for both human and animal medicine.

In this programme, presenter Mariclare Carey-Jones meets the team breeding the leeches, to find out what’s involved. “We produce somewhere in the region of 50 thousand leeches” says Carl Peters-Bond, Quality Systems Manager at Biopharm. It’s no easy task because, according to Carl, leeches “are sensitive to atmospheric pressure, they’re sensitive to light, they’re sensitive to heat, they’re sensitive to metal in the waters. They have moods and you can’t put them together when they’re in a bad mood - they cannibalise”.

Despite the difficulties in breeding them, leeches play a vital part in our health service. Most of the leeches produced at Biopharm are used by the NHS in plastic surgery and micro surgery procedures, such as skin grafts and re-attaching fingers. Others are sent to hospitals worldwide, “we’ve got offices in Japan, America, Norway and other places; they use them primarily in their hospitals” says Office Manager Cassie Rees. The leeches are also used in veterinary medicine, “primarily in dogs you’ll see aural hematomas, same thing as a cauliflower ear on a rugby player” and these respond well to leeches, according to Cassie, and where their breeding time is over, they play a useful part in the fishing industry.

As well as seeing the process of breeding these leeches first hand, Mariclare will also find out how they are distributed across the world - can it really be as simple as popping the leeches in the post? And she will find out what a leech feels like when it’s wriggling in her hand.

Produced and presented by Mariclare Carey-Jones.