US Works with Chile on Trout & Salmon Oral Vaccine

This follows marketing authorisation by Servicio Agricola y Ganadero (SAG), Chile's Agricultural and Livestock Service, of Centrovet's unique bi-valent ISA+SRS oral vaccine, which complements its already approved line of injectable and oral vaccines for use against major diseases that affect salmon and trout, including Atlantic salmon. The vaccine is delivered via commercial feed using ABN's patented delivery systems.

"This new vaccine is the beginning of our polyvalent oral vaccine strategy" said David Farcas, Centrovet chief executive officer (CEO). "This will undoubtedly be a major contribution to the aquaculture industry, allowing the fish to be vaccinated without the stress of injection and providing protection in half the time of injectable vaccines. It shows that boosting is an effective strategy to have fish protected until they are harvested."

Mr Farcas noted that the SRS and ISA fractions in the vaccine are "the highest in the industry" versus other preparations in the market place. The ISA fraction comes from specific antigens by recombinant yeast fermentation. He noted that this sophisticated method is used in vaccines against viral diseases throughout Europe and the US.

"We congratulate Centrovet on obtaining this first-of-its-kind marketing approval from SAG," said Larry Loehr, president of ABN delivery technologies. "This is a unique formulation, and delivery is made possible by the innovative technology of ABN's patented delivery systems."

"This is not an evolutionary step but a revolutionary step in the management of animal diseases," said George R. Kohan, ABN director of business development for animal health. "There has never been a freeze-dried, powdered, oral bi-valent vaccine for fish health management and it may well be that this is the first of its type for management of any animal disease. This allows farmers to replace injection with a vaccine top-coat on the regular feed. We are pleased to be a part of this accomplishment by the Centrovet research team."

ABN and Centrovet initially signed an agreement in March 2009 when Centrovet Laboratories received registration for a freeze-dried, oral-powder vaccine to aid in the prevention of Salmon Rickettsial Syndrome (SRS) in Chilean salmonid species. Earlier this month, Centrovet and ABN announced a global agreement to expand the delivery of oral vaccines to aid in the prevention of Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus (ISAV) and, potentially, other diseases in the salmonid species.

ABN's patented technologies capture the active ingredient, acting to stabilize, protect, and efficiently deliver the product to its final target site of action. In addition to targeted feeding in aquatic applications ranging from fish to shrimp, the system can be used for the delivery of probiotics, omega-3 oils, vitamins, carotenoids, enzymes, and amino acids for human nutrition and industrial applications. The ABN technology allows commercial fish farmers to deliver the antigen in effective and efficient new ways to induce an effective immune response in salmonid species.