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This collaboration has lead to lots of groundbreaking work on FMDV at Diamond. Learn more here, or search "FMDV" on our website to see more.
The vaccine VLPs do not contain genetic material and are propagated in insect cells, removing the need for high containment production. Initial research for the vaccine was funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), after which Wellcome continued to fund the programme to develop the vaccine for low and middle income countries.
A result of long-standing collaborations between Diamond Light Source, The Pirbright Institute and others, MSD Animal Health has been granted an exclusive commercial licence for a vaccine to protect livestock against foot-and-mouth-disease-virus (FMDV)
Announced today, The Pirbright Institute and its research partners have granted MSD Animal Health an exclusive commercial licence for a new, effective and affordable vaccine to protect livestock against several serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). The new vaccine is more stable than current foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines and is less reliant on a cold-chain during vaccine distribution – characteristics that give the vaccine greater potential for helping to relieve the burden placed on regions where the disease is endemic in large parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Professor David Stuart, Life Sciences Director at Diamond Light Source and MRC Professor in Structural Biology at the University of Oxford, noted:
We have been working to achieve something close to the holy grail of vaccines. Instead of traditional methods of vaccine development, using infectious virus as its basis, our team synthetically created empty protein shells to imitate the protein coat that forms the strong outer layer of the virus. Diamond’s visualisation capabilities and the expertise of Oxford University in structural analysis and computer simulation, enabled us to visualise in detail something invisible in a normal microscope and to enhance the design, atom by atom, of the empty shells. The key thing is that unlike the traditional FMDV vaccines, there is no chance that the empty shell vaccine could revert to an infectious form. The licence that has just been granted suggests that the work will have a broad and enduring impact on vaccine development.
The granting of the licence is an important milestone in years of research led by Professor Bryan Charleston, Director at Pirbright, Professor David Stuart, Life Sciences Director at Diamond Light Source and MRC Professor in Structural Biology at the University of Oxford and Professor Ian Jones, University of Reading, to develop a new synthetic vaccine designed to trigger optimum immune responses without the need to grow live infectious virus for vaccine production. It also highlights the confidence MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co who will be taking forward the new technology intro development, has in the new vaccine’s effectiveness, safety and viability for commercial production.
Defra Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, said:
This is a major milestone in tackling foot-and-mouth disease in the developing countries where it is endemic. The increased robustness of this new vaccine has the potential to not only protect livestock, but to transform the lives of people whose livelihoods have previously been threatened by this disease. Many people have worked for years to get to this point, and I am delighted to see the vaccine receive its commercial licence.
Regions where the disease is not endemic could also benefit since the VLPs lack specific viral proteins, facilitating differentiation between vaccinated and infected animals (DIVA) such that trade would not be hindered by a vaccination programme and this protection would eliminate the need for mass culling in the event of an outbreak. Importantly, this method of making and stabilising vaccines could potentially be employed in the fight against other viruses from the same family, including polio.
FMDV not only impacts animal welfare, but the wellbeing of those reliant on susceptible animals for produce and trade. This vaccine will help to address the current shortfall in vaccine availability, which will have a huge impact on the economic prosperity of those countries blighted by the disease, as well as improving the livelihoods of those living in affected regions.
Professor 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.
Learn more about the Pirbright Institute and this work here: www.pirbright.ac.uk/news/2019/09/pirbright-grants-licence-new-foot-and-mouth-disease-vaccine
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