The VAX4ASF consortium recently gathered in-person for the first time, underscoring their commitment to combatting African Swine Fever. With diverse expertise and innovative approaches, the consortium aims to accelerate vaccine development and address key challenges in ASF control.
The international consortium leading the European project VAX4ASF — New Technologies for African Swine Fever — recently held its first in-person meeting on May 8-9. Hosted by HIPRA, the project coordinator, at its cutting-edge facilities in Girona, Spain, this event marked a significant milestone following five months of remote collaboration in the pursuit of groundbreaking advancements in combating the ASF virus.
During the meeting, participants discussed the progress across various work packages and established the course for the next six months. Additionally, the consortium members toured HIPRA’s facilities, gaining first-hand insights into the company’s commitment to advancing animal and human health.
Project Status
Significant advances have been made in the initial steps towards developing replication-limited vaccines. Efforts related to molecular tools, stable cell lines, and recombinant viruses will continue, alongside ongoing research on virus genetics, pathogenicity, and host response.
This research is crucial for next-generation vaccines by identifying genes directed to enhance the immune response against the virus and reduce clinical signs, providing essential insights into the virus’s interaction with host cells and the modulation of innate and adaptive immune responses.
What to expect next
While in-person meetings will take place annually, the next consortium gathering for project advances will be held online in November, marking ten months since the project’s inception. By then, the efforts to generate candidates will have progressed. This will enable the initiation of in vitro evaluation of these vaccine prototypes. These steps are pivotal for selecting the most promising candidates.
Concurrently, work will persist on other already initiated work packages. These encompass endeavours pertaining to the genetics and pathogenicity of the virus, as well as the host response, the development of a diagnostic test, the study of virus epidemiology and control strategies, and the exploration of policy and regulatory pathways.
About VAX4ASF
Led by the biotechnological pharmaceutical company HIPRA and supported by the European Union under the Horizon Europe program, the goal of VAX4ASF is to provide a definitive, effective, and safe solution against the highly contagious, unpredictable, and complex ASF virus that affects domestic pigs and wild boars’ world populations, causing high mortality among the affected animals.
To address the challenges posed by an innovative vaccination approach, VAX4ASF brings together 17 partners from European Union countries, the United States and Kenya, in an international consortium: Spain (Severo Ochoa Center for Molecular Biology, Sabiotec, Anprogapor, INTERPORC, HIPRA, Zabala Innovation), Germany (Ludwig-Maximilians Universitaet Muenche), United Kingdom (The Pirbright Institute), Kenya (International Livestock Research Institute), Sweden (SVA Swedish Veterinary Agency), Italy (In3diagnostic srl), Netherlands (Wageningen Bioveterinary Research – WUR), Hungary (Institute for Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation of MATE University, PROPHYL), Romania (Univ. of Life Sciences from Timisoara), Poland (PIWet National Veterinary Research Institut) and United States (Kansas State University). Renowned scientists and an innovative pharmaceutical company committed to offering the most ground-breaking vaccine for animal health.