The first-ever quadrivalent vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), developed by Moroccan company Biopharma, was registered in August and has qualified for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) “AgResults FMD Challenge” project. This marks a significant milestone in efforts to combat FMD in East Africa, a region heavily affected by the disease.
The announcement came during the FAO’s 1st Global Conference on Animal Health Innovation, Reference Centers, and Vaccines, held from September 23 to 25, according to a statement released by Biopharma.
By successfully registering the vaccine in one of the six target countries—Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Tanzania, or Kenya—Biopharma has met the project’s Target Product Profile (TPP) and has become the first official “competitor” in the “AgResults FMD Vaccine Challenge.” This phase of the project has now entered its cost-sharing distribution stage.
Launched in February 2020, the “AgResults FMD Vaccine Challenge” is an eight-year, $17.34 million prize competition managed by GALVmed (the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines). The initiative supports the development and adoption of high-quality quadrivalent vaccines tailored to the needs of East Africa, where FMD is a persistent problem.
The project is divided into two phases: in the first, vaccine manufacturers work on developing a region-specific FMD vaccine that meets predefined criteria. Biopharma, under the guidance of the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, successfully navigated the development process and registered a vaccine in Rwanda that meets the project’s TPP standards.
The next phase, which began on October 1, focuses on the cost-sharing of vaccine distribution. This mechanism is designed to lower the cost per dose for buyers, making the vaccine more accessible to public and private sectors, which in turn will help better control FMD in East Africa.
Structured as a results-based prize competition, the “AgResults FMD Challenge” is unique in using financial incentives to engage vaccine manufacturers. These incentives are crucial in encouraging both public and private sectors to take an active role in controlling FMD across East Africa in the coming years, according to the statement.
