With the U.K. still suffering from egg shortages and poultry segregation from the largest outbreak of avian influenza in the country’s history, the Pirbright Institute in Woking has just announced a new initiative to help combat and prevent animal infections. The collaboration between the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will create a new centre specialised in the development of new vaccines for animals, in an attempt to combat emerging diseases before they spread.
Whilst most vaccine research begins with identifying compounds in facilities such as universities before entering pharmaceutical development, the new centre aims to reduce friction between research and manufacture. Not only does it prove to be beneficial domestically, the centre is aiming to focus on infections that become prevalent in middle and low-income countries. In such countries livestock keeping is a livelihood for a larger proportion of the population. The Covid-19 pandemic rapidly bought the existence of zoonotic infections (those which pass from animals to humans) into the spotlight, and with the rise of more antibiotic resistance among common disease strains, investigating and developing medications for new diseases are more important than ever to safeguard both our population and that of our livestock.
The £40 million investment will go towards developing their role in the pandemic preparedness programme. This includes emergency vaccine development, as seen during the Covid pandemic, and addressing markets deemed commercially problematic for medical development. Many animal vaccine developments are currently driven by industry needs and judged by commercial benefit, meaning some diseases don’t begin vaccine development until much later on – at which point they may be at epidemic or pandemic level.
The partnership of business and science has potential to speed up the overall development process and reduce bureaucracy, which should see animal vaccines developed faster and more effectively. The Covid pandemic has shown that effective vaccines can be produced quickly, and the new centre at Pirbright could give the UK an edge on protecting the health and wellbeing of its broader population.