The Vaccine Group (TVG) has been awarded more than £1 million in funding by the UK Government to develop a vaccine for Streptococcus suis.
TVG CEO Jeremy Salt spoke to Proactive’s Stephen Gunnion about the company’s work on a vaccine for the global bacterial disease affecting pig populations. He explained the challenges posed by the strain variations of this bacteria, the reliance on antibiotics, and the current inefficiencies of available vaccines.
Highlighting the need for new approaches, Salt mentioned a collaboration to develop a challenge model for the UK’s prevalent strain, funded by Innovate UK. “We’re developing a vaccine that we hope will have a global application, but one of the key aspects for us is to show that it works against the prevalent strain in the UK,” Salt said.
He also discussed other key projects, such as vaccines for African swine fever and bovine respiratory diseases, which are of critical concern for global livestock farming.