Vaccines to protect against viral disease in pigs
The EC-funded EFFICACIOUS DELIVERY project followed a two-pronged approach towards the discovery and development of novel vaccination strategies for veterinary disease. Project partners concentrated on two types of vaccines. The first type included viral antigens produced in vitro and the second included in vivo produced antigens, using a DNA/RNA delivery as well as an expression system. The efficacy of these vaccines was evaluated following primary vaccination in swine. A series of novel DNA vaccines was developed, encoding the viral proteins E2 and NS3. E2 is a structural protein and it was used alongside the non-structural protein NS3. In order to improve efficacy, these constructs also included DNA segments encoding for a variety of interleukins. Following a series of studies, evaluating a variety of approaches, results indicated that two booster applications were needed. In other words, DNA vaccines require two booster applications in order to confer protection in swine and induce production of CSFV-neutralising antibodies. The researchers are now keen to market their discovery through an appropriately formed partnership. Private enterprises (including pharmaceutical firms with an active veterinary portfolio) are likely to show an interest in this technology.
