No approved vaccine for ASF virus at present.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Plumbline Life Sciences are collaborating to co-develop a novel animal health vaccine for the African swine fever (ASF) virus.
Inovio will construct and test the ASF vaccine in small animal models. Plumbline will further test the vaccine in larger animal models, including in pig challenge models and further develop to commercialise the vaccine.
ASF is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, which is responsible for serious economic and production losses. There is no approved vaccine for ASF currently and the current outbreak in Asia is dramatically threatening the agricultural economies of many Asian countries including China, Vietnam and Korea. The disease is incurable in pigs but innocuous to humans.
The vaccine will be developed using Inovio’s SynCon technology and delivered using CELLECTRA efficacy-enabling devices. South Korea-based Plumbline will fund all development and commercialisation of the ASF vaccine. [APBN]