January 11, 2011

Merial's CIRCOVAC gets marketing authorisation in Europe

CIRCOVAC, Merial's vaccine to control Porcine Circovirus Disease (PCVD), was granted European marketing authorisation for use in piglets on November 29, 2010.

CIRCOVAC is now the first PCVD vaccine available worldwide for the vaccination of both sows and piglets. The vaccine is registered in Europe, Brazil, Mexico and Japan.

By vaccinating piglets, CIRCOVAC provides an active immunisation to reduce the fecal excretion of PCV2 and virus load in blood, and is an aid in reducing PCV2-linked clinical signs, including wasting, weight loss and mortality; it also reduces virus load and lesions in lymphoid tissues associated with PCV2 infection. The programme of vaccination is based on one deep IM 0.5-ml injection from three weeks of age.

By vaccinating sows, CIRCOVAC ensures the passive immunisation of piglets via the colostrum, after active immunisation of sows and gilts, to reduce lesions in lymphoid tissues associated with PCV2 infection and as an aid to reduce PCV2-linked mortality. The programme is based on one injection of a 2-ml dose in gilts or sows followed, three to four weeks later, by a second injection, at least two weeks before mating/farrowing. A booster injection must be administered at each gestation, at least two to four weeks before farrowing.

As the first-ever vaccine to be registered against PCVD, CIRCOVAC has vast field experience in Europe and has demonstrated improvements in overall growth performance: after the vaccination of piglets, the average daily weight gain in a German farm went up from 384g/day to 451g/day during post-weaning.  In parallel, mortality decreased from 4.2% to 1.5% during the post-weaning period, and the rate of wasting animals dropped from 7.2% to 1.3%.

Other field observations have also clearly highlighted the benefits of sow vaccination to improve reproductive parameters: abortion rates in a French farm dropped from 7.3% to 3.6% and farrowing percentages increased from 84% to 90.5%.  All these results have been observed in a large numbers of farms all around Europe. They have confirmed the efficacy and the economic benefits of CIRCOVAC vaccination as a method of controlling PCV2 on the whole farm and consequently of achieving optimum profitability.

This claim extension confirms Merial's commitment to develop scientific knowledge and to offer a sound field solution to control PCVD for veterinarians and farmers.

CIRCOVAC is available in 50 ml bottles, i.e. 25 doses for sows or 100 doses for piglets.