Project
VAX4ASF: New Technologies for African Swine Fever (ASF)
This 4-years project bets on the potential of live attenuated vaccines to develop an effective, enduring, and secure solution against African swine fever virus. This will contribute to animal welfare, global economic stability, and rural communities.
The project unites 17 stakeholders in the international pig health industry. It is supported by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme. Its goal is to provide a definitive, effective and safe solution against ASF virus that affects pigs and wild boar.
Global challenge
African swine fever outbreaks carry severe socio-economic consequences, causing devastation of rural livelihoods dependent on livestock production, and threatening overall market stability and food security. According to the most recent report from the World Organization for Animal Health, this disease has impacted 52 countries across five world regions since 2021, resulting in over 126,000 pig and 30,000 wild boar infections, with more than 1,809,000 animal losses.
Vaccine development
The complex nature of the ASF genome and virus particles has been the main factor that has hampered the ASF vaccine development; therefore, despite the intensive research on different vaccine approaches, full commercial vaccine candidates are still lacking. The project aims to innovate based on previous vaccination approaches and strategies with the potential for success.
Consortium
The project, led by Spanish pharmaceutical company Hipra, brings together 17 partners from European countries, the USA and Kenya, in an international consortium. The project will work on new generation vaccines and also propose innovative policies for ASF control and management through the continuous involvement of all key stakeholders.