A new foot and mouth disease vaccine developed by the Pirbright Institute and its research partners will be soon made commercially available.
The new vaccine can protect livestock against several serotypes of foot and mouth disease virus.
It is also more stable than foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccines which are currently available, and is less reliant on a cold-chain during vaccine distribution.
As a result, it means the vaccine has greater potential in large parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
The vaccine has been developed over the years from basic science to animal trials as a result of long-standing collaborations between Pirbright, the University of Oxford, Diamond Light Source, the University of Reading and MSD Animal Health, which will now be taking forward the new technology into development, registration and manufacturing.
New science
The granting of the licence is an important milestone in years of research to develop a new vaccine that is made of small synthetic protein shells, called ‘virus-like particles’, which mimic the FMD virus outer shell and are designed to trigger optimum immune responses.
Unlike other inactivated FMD vaccines, the virus-like particles do not require high containment facilities for production and have been engineered to remain stable up to temperatures of 56°C, reducing reliance on cold-chain transport and storage.
These two factors will revolutionise vaccine deployment in areas of Africa and Asia, where the disease continues to circulate.
There could still be benefits in regions where the disease is not endemic since the virus-like particles lack specific viral proteins, it allows the vaccine to facilitate differentiation between vaccinated and infected animals.
This means that trade would not be hindered by a vaccination programme and the need for mass culling in the event of an outbreak would be negated.
Importantly, this method of making and stabilising vaccines could potentially be employed in the fight against other viruses from the same family, including polio.
Prof. Bryan Charleston, director of The Pirbright Institute, said: “We are proud and excited that our research has resulted in a vaccine that is undergoing commercial development and will have a major impact on the health and wellbeing of those people whose livelihoods have been most severely affected by this devastating disease.
“The vaccine’s properties allow for a greater degree of flexibility during production, storage and transportation, which will result in a more affordable solution and therefore better access to those living in areas, such as Asia and Africa.”
