Projects to tackle costly pig virus

Two projects are underway to develop vaccine candidates for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV).

Collectively, PRRSV species (type-1 and type-2) are responsible for one of the most economically damaging diseases to the global pig industry. The cost to European pig farmers is estimated at €1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) a year and approximately US$600 million (£463 million) in the US.

Two projects

In the first project, The Pirbright Institute is teaming up with ECO Animal Health Group and The Vaccine Group (TVG) in a tripartite collaboration, while a second project is a collaboration between Pirbright and ECO.

In the former 18-month development project, supported and funded by ECO, Pirbright will be testing two vaccine candidates that use TVG’s vaccine technology to assess how effective they are in tackling PRRSV in pigs.

Challenge

Simon Graham, group leader of PRRS immunology at Pirbright, said: “This is an exciting project that takes a novel approach to addressing the urgent requirement for improved vaccines to combat the global spread of PRRSV.”

TVG founder and chief scientific officer Michael Jarvis said: “This is an exciting opportunity that brings together critical basic science and translational expertise towards addressing this major infectious disease in pigs.

“As PRRSV is a member of the Nidovirus group of viruses – a group that also contains SARS-CoV-2 – what we learn from development of a PRRSV vaccine may also help inform our development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.”

Second project

The second ECO-funded project will involve development of a killed vaccine over 18 months.

Hafid Benchaoui, head of global research and development for ECO, said: “This novel concept will provide better protection of pigs against PRRSV than current vaccines, and will be safer by eliminating the significant risk of recombination in the field.”