It is expected that on August 29, 150,000 doses of African swine fever vaccine researched and developed by AVAC Vietnam Joint Stock Company will be exported to the Philippines. This shipment is among 600,000 doses of AVAC ASF Live that the Philippine Government has ordered after allowing its circulation in the country since last July.
On August 26, a delegation from the Philippines inspected the African swine fever vaccine storage facility of AVAC Vietnam Joint Stock Company in Hung Yen. Mr. Rosendo O.So, Chairman of the Philippine Agricultural and Industrial Extension Agency (SINAG), said: The Philippine government hopes to solve ASF with a vaccine solution.
KPP Power Commodities partner and experts come to AVAC to inspect the vaccine shipment to be exported to the Philippines. Photo: AVAC
According to the Philippine Department of Agriculture, as of July 14, 2024, there are 403 red zones and 737 pink zones for ASF in pigs in the country. Of these, red zones are very dangerous, pink zones are dangerous. Due to the impact of the disease, the Philippines’ pig production has decreased from 2.3 million tons in 2019 to 1.7 million tons in 2021.
Mr. Rosendo O.So said that out of the 600,000 doses of AVAC ASF LIVE signed for import from Vietnam, 300,000 doses have been imported and used. On this occasion, about 150,000 doses of AVAC ASF Live will continue to be imported, expected to be transported to the Philippines from now until early September. The remaining quantity will be imported in the next batch.
Ms. Pinky Pe Tobiano, CEO of KPP Powers Commodites Inc. (the importer of AVAC’s African swine fever vaccine) shared that currently, the assessments of safety, protective efficacy, research records, and cooperation data with AVAC Vietnam are all guaranteed. The registration progress is in accordance with the requirements of the Philippine Drug Administration. Decisions are made based on scientific evidence and basis.
Vaccine warehouse of AVAC Vietnam Joint Stock Company in Hung Yen province. Photo: AVAC
Vietnam is the only country in the world that has successfully researched, developed and commercialized an African swine fever vaccine. Mr. Nguyen Van Diep, General Director of AVAC Vietnam, said that the Philippines is the second country besides Vietnam to allow the circulation of an African swine fever vaccine. “Proactively producing vaccines domestically will help Vietnam have a strategic spearhead product to export abroad, creating opportunities for the next products,” said Mr. Diep.
AVAC has launched about 2.3 million doses of vaccine on the domestic market, exporting 305,000 doses; of which 300,000 doses went to the Philippines and 5,000 doses went to Nigeria. The company is registering for circulation in a number of countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Myanmar, Nigeria, etc. The Philippines alone imported 300,000 doses of AVAC’s African swine fever vaccine in July last year. The country also conducted a three-phase vaccine evaluation on 30 large-scale farms with 150,000 pigs. All vaccinated pigs were safe and protected until sale. With this result, last July, the Philippines accepted the AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine for circulation in the country.
It is known that AVAC spent nearly 3 years to successfully research and develop and bring the vaccine to market. Researchers conducted more than 115 experiments on animals, many experiments in the lab, gene sequencing, continuously improving strains and vaccine production processes to create the best processes. The vaccine developed by the team was licensed from July 2023. After that, AVAC supplied nearly 300,000 doses of AVAC ASF Live vaccine to provinces such as Cao Bang, Lang Son, Bac Ninh, Lai Chau… The pigs were monitored and tested after 28 days of injection. As a result, all vaccinated pigs were healthy, and no facility had an outbreak.
Currently, AVAC Vietnam Company can supply about 2 – 5 million doses of African swine fever vaccine per month, this capacity is enough to meet the needs of the Vietnamese market and some countries in the Southeast Asian region. There are still no standards for African swine fever vaccines in the world. This is the barrier that makes some countries still wait for standards to evaluate this vaccine. It is expected that in 2025, there will be standards for African swine fever vaccines so that countries can have guidelines for building their own safety procedures.
AVAC ASF Live is a freeze-dried attenuated vaccine grown on the DMAC cell line. This vaccine is recommended for a single dose and the protection period is at least 5 months. Currently, a dose of vaccine for pigs costs from 61,000 – 69,000 VND. AVAC representative said that this price is high, so the Company plans to have a price reduction roadmap after the commercial period to suit farmers.
>> In the first 7 months of this year, 632 African swine fever outbreaks occurred nationwide in 44 provinces and cities, forcing the culling of over 40,500 pigs. Compared to the same period in 2023, the number of African swine fever outbreaks increased 2.4 times, the number of pigs that died and were forced to be culled increased 3.25 times. In Vietnam, in addition to AVAC, Navetco and Dabaco are also researching African swine fever vaccines.
Thuy Khanh
(Synthesis)