fis.com, 16 February 2011
Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health has given Novartis Animal Health exclusive rights to a portion of its patent portfolio to create vaccines that will prevent pancreas disease (PD) in farmed salmon.
Novartis Animal Health will, through this agreement, be able to commercialise a new pancreas disease vaccine based on innovative technology. Salmon producers in Norway, the UK and Ireland will thus potentially have access to a unique alternative for managing outbreaks of this costly disease, which is prevalent in these countries’ salmon farms.
“The aquaculture business is a priority at Novartis Animal Health and it is a business that we will continue to invest in,” said George Gunn, Global Head of Novartis Animal Health. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement that allows Novartis to develop a vaccine based on new, innovative technology and that potentially will enable salmon producers in Norway, UK and Ireland to better manage pancreas disease.”
Back in 2008, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health launched its current vaccine for PD in salmon - Norvax® Compact PD. The whole virus-based vaccine is now being employed with reportedly successful results in more than 100 million salmon throughout Norway every year.
Head of the Global Aquatic Animal Business for Intervet/Schering-Plough Hank Behrend recognised that Novartis’s vaccine would indeed compete with Norvax® Compact PD.
“But our primary interest is supporting the salmon industry,” Behrend assured. “We have maintained that we would grant a licence to our pancreas disease vaccine patents if we believed that the application would bring a different approach to the control of pancreas disease.”
“Both products offer unique features and benefits for the salmon industry. We are pleased to enable Novartis to provide the industry with another tool for managing this disease,” he added.
First observed in Scotland more than three decades ago in farm-raised Atlantic salmon, pancreas disease has in the last 5 years made a comeback in farms in Norway, Scotland and Ireland, representing a major menace to salmon health and a limitation on sustainability in aquaculture.
Since the disease’s first appearance, scientists have learned that PD is a complex condition that affects the heart, skeletal muscle and the pancreas. PD is caused by the salmonid alphavirus (SAV), which can also infect and harm fresh-water rainbow trout all over Europe and sea-reared rainbow trout in Norway.
“Our primary goal is to help fish farmers around the world improve the health and quality of their fish stocks by investing in the research programs that bring new and innovative solutions to the market,” said Gunn. “Novartis scientists will continue to present data on the vaccine and we also will continue to educate customers on the benefits the vaccine is expected to bring to the market.”
Source: fis.com
