Geelong lab advances African Swine Fever vaccine

THE CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong has teamed up with US biotech firm MBF Therapeutics to evaluate a new DNA vaccine against African Swine fever.

The deadly viral disease that’s hit Asia and reached Indonesia, Timor Leste, and Papua New Guinea, poses a major threat to the global pig industry.

African Swine fever, which can wipe out 100 per cent of infected pigs, has caused widespread damage, killing millions of pigs overseas and disrupting pork production and trade worldwide.

The collaboration at the Geelong facility is part of the CSIRO’s Immune Resilience Future Science platform, aiming to deepen our understanding of human and animal immune systems using advanced technologies.

Dr David Williams, an African swine fever expert at ACDP, said despite the threat of African Swine fever, scientists had not yet been able to develop a completely safe and effective vaccine.

“While first-generation vaccines have recently been approved for use in some parts of Asia, these are weakened live virus vaccines, which have potential to revert back to a disease-causing form and can cause side effects in sows and pigs with infections or other illnesses,” Dr Williams said.

“CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness is one of the few labs in the world that can safely work with the virus. We’ll be bringing all our diagnostic tools, reagents and research capability to this challenge, and learning from the experience for future research.”

MBF Therapeutics CEO, Thomas Tillett, said the DNA vaccine platform is based on technology adapted from immunotherapeutic treatment of human cancer, and aims to eliminate pathogens as they enter the body.

“Dr Williams’ and CSIRO’s expertise in the field of African swine fever, combined with MBF Therapeutics’ innovative T-Max Precision vaccine platform, provides an opportunity to work towards a truly safe and effective African swine fever vaccine,” Mr Tillett said.

“MBF Therapeutics’ ultimate goal is to create a vaccine that can be used safely in all stages of swine production, including sows, while preventing disease in individual animals and limiting transmission within the herd and environment.”