Australia is poised to begin producing its own foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine domestically. In an effort to keep the country safe from FMD, the first mRNA vaccine against FMD has already been successfully tested in cattle.
International collaboration involving US company Tiba BioTech and the New South Wales (NSW) government has led to a breakthrough to combat foot and mouth disease (FMD). This is first mRNA vaccine against FMD and has been successfully tested at the German Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) in large animals. In addition, the vaccine can be produced in a short time frame with response time to outbreaks slashed.
Tiba BioTech confirmed that the vaccine was developed by Tiba scientists as part of an international research collaboration with the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute and the RNA Institute at the University of New South Wales, with support from the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Meat & Livestock Australia. This success builds on earlier livestock vaccine research supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
Synthetic FMD vaccine
Traditional FMD vaccines involve large quantities of the virus cultivated under strict safety conditions, whereas mRNA vaccines can be produced without this process. Therefore, the mRNA vaccine is fully synthetic and is said to be safer and much faster to produce without the use of infectious material. According to FLI, mRNA vaccines can be produced without any special biosafety requirements.
With this new development, Australia is now one of only a small number of countries with local capacity to produce a foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine, said the NSW government.
“Developing local manufacturing capacity to produce vaccines against emergency animal diseases is a critical priority so that we can protect Australia’s livestock industries, our economy and our food supply,” said Tara Moriarty, minister for agriculture, regional and Western NSW.
Development, funding and tested on cattle
According to the NSW government, this is part of the Minns government’s AUS$1 billion biosecurity plan to ensure the state’s AUS$8 billion livestock industry and Australia’s food security are protected. The work falls under a AUS$20 million project funded by Meat & Livestock Australia and the NSW government. For the development of this vaccine, it has taken less than 18 months and has cost approx. AUS$2.5 million to make.
The FLI announced in August that the vaccine had been successfully tested in cattle. During testing at the institute in Germany, all vaccinated animals were fully protected, showing no signs of viral shedding or adverse effects, said Tiba BioTech.
The institute confirmed: “The 2 vaccinations at 4-week intervals provide cattle with complete protection against clinical disease. Additionally, virus shedding in cattle infected after vaccination was reduced to such an extent that they are unlikely to infect other animals.”
Scale up and accelerate
Professor Pall Thordarson, director of the University of New South Wales RNA Institute commented on the university’s website, “With an outbreak, you need 100,000 or even a million doses, not just a few dozen. While we’re involved in pre-clinical development, our main role is to scale up the vaccine and accelerate its journey from the lab to local mass scale production.”
However, before it can be made available and scaled for markets, the vaccine needs to show that it meets Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority standards.
The FLI has further stated that studies are needed to determine whether good protection can be achieved with a single dose of the vaccine, and how quickly protection develops after vaccination.
A critical advantage
“Unlike current mRNA technologies, our vaccines can be stored long-term at standard refrigeration temperatures and at room temperature for at least 1 month – a critical advantage in livestock applications,” said Tiba Biotech CFO Peter McGrath.
Australia has been FMD-free since 1872. A foot and mouth disease outbreak could have a detrimental impact on meat supply and exports and devastate the Australian economy. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences estimate the impact of a widespread foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak stating it could cost AUS$80 billion to Australia’s livestock industry over a 10-year period. Australia’s national science agency CSIRO says the disease is still considered the most serious biosecurity threat to its livestock industries.
“The virus is in Indonesia as well as other countries, and it wouldn’t take a lot for an accident to happen here – for it to get into our country,” Thordarson added.