March 8, 2021

Verovaccines achieves full protection of animals against viral challenge in fourth vaccine programme

Verovaccines GmbH, a German company specialising on the development of next-generation, multi-valent yeast vaccines for animals, has achieved proof-of-concept in its fourth vaccine programme.

The trial, which targeted an undisclosed chicken pathogen, was conducted in cooperation with the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, Germany. The vaccine belongs to a novel type of yeast-based, sub-unit vaccines, which are designed for excellent efficacy and allow for the co-expression of different antigens in a single yeast strain.

Verovaccines´s vaccines can be used against a variety of pathogens in different animal species. Its new vaccine candidate showed for the first time that chicken progeny could be protected via generation of maternal antibodies following immunisation of hens.

Hens were immunised by sub-cutaneous injection with Verovaccine's yeast-based vaccine. All progeny chicks were fully protected against subsequent infection by the corresponding pathogen. This result was achieved with the first prototype version of a novel, inactivated, yeast-based sub-unit vaccine and underlines the high potency of this novel vaccine class. It extends the usability of such vaccines to the poultry layer market.

Verovaccines develops novel animal vaccines using a proprietary technology platform based on the milk yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. In several, past vaccine tests, proof-of-concept in terms of immuno[1]genicity / protection from infection was achieved in pig, cattle and chicken.

The company's vaccines are highly efficacious and easy to combine and use. The vaccines' dried whole yeast material is thermostable and can be stored without the need of a cold chain. Such properties represent unique selling points on the international vaccine market, Verovaccines said.

"These novel results are not only a further validation of our platform, but also extend its usability in the poultry sector," said Dr. Hanjo Hennemann, managing director of Verovaccines.

Prof. Dr. Sven-Erik Behrens, managing director of Verovaccines, added: "This new vaccine will be used as a component of a novel combination vaccine to reduce the use of antibiotics in poultry farming."

"We were positively surprised that even the first prototype of this new vaccine provided full protection to the chicks via maternal antibodies by immunising the laying hens," said Prof. Dr. Silke Rautenschlein, director of the Clinic for Poultry at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover.

- Verovaccines