Bovine TB: Vaccine research
“The best prospect for control of TB in the British herd is to develop a cattle vaccine” – Krebs Report (1997).Developing a TB vaccine for badgers and cattle is a long-term goal and a substantial part of the Defra research programme focuses on this. Total investment (since 1998) in vaccine development reached more than £17.8 million by the end of March 2008. Over £5.5 million was invested in cattle and badger vaccine research in 2007/2008. Real progress has been made. Testing candidate vaccines in naturally infected cattle and badgers, and developing novel vaccine delivery systems, is underway and work on developing potential vaccination policy options has begun.
Future spend on research
On 7 July 2008, the Secretary of State announced a commitment to additional funding over the next 3 years. During this time period, £20 million will be spent on vaccine development to strengthen the prospects of successfully developing a usable vaccine.
This additional funding will help to further develop oral badger vaccines and investigate ways in which they could most effectively be deployed. It will also enable work to continue that is necessary to apply for a licence for a cattle BCG vaccine and boost work looking at non-sensitising vaccines for cattle.
Increased funding will not result in a vaccine being available sooner. While the programme of research has been designed to minimise the time required to deliver licensed vaccines, research by its nature takes time and a significant proportion of the work can only be addressed sequentially. For example, the majority of safety and efficacy studies required for licensing an oral badger vaccine must use the final formulation and therefore cannot start until this is available. Additional effort has been focussed on addressing areas of scientific and policy uncertainty in an attempt to prevent the timeline from slipping.
When might vaccines be available?
Badger vaccines are likely to be available sooner than cattle vaccines. The earliest projected date for the widespread use of badger vaccine is 2014 for BCG oral badger vaccine. Injectable BCG badger vaccines are expected to be available in 2010 and will be used in a Badger Vaccine Deployment Project.
The earliest projected date for the widespread use of a BCG cattle vaccine with a differential diagnostic test (DIVA) is mid to late-2015.
How does Defra decide on what research to fund?
The Independent Scientific Group (ISG) on Cattle TB set up in 2001 a Vaccine Scoping Study Sub-Committee which reported to Ministers in 2003 its advice on future research requirements. Most of the recommendations from the Study have been taken forward by the Department and are overseen by a TB Vaccine Programme Advisory Group chaired by the Departmental TB Vaccine Programme Advisor, Professor Douglas Young, an internationally recognised expert in human TB vaccines from Imperial College.
Research Projects
Cattle
Defra is funding research, in collaboration with New Zealand workers, to vaccinate cattle experimentally with Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) and other vaccine candidates, which includes a range of live attenuated and sub-unit vaccines. The research programme has successfully identified lead candidate vaccines for bTB and although this work is still ongoing, delivery protocols for some of the candidates are now being looked at.
Badgers
Defra has commissioned two studies to test the efficacy and safety of a TB vaccine on badgers. This is the next stage in the vaccination programme and is overseen by the independent Vaccine Programme Advisory Group (VPAG). The aim is to obtain data that will be used in an application to license BCG as a vaccine that could be used in badgers as part of an overall bovine TB control policy. An independent consultant with experience in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry is the study monitor.
The work has been licensed by Natural England under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
Defra is also funding other development and testing of vaccines against bTB in badgers. Collaborative work, including vaccination/challenge studies using BCG, with University College, Dublin is ongoing. A separate strand of research to develop an oral BCG vaccine bait formulation is being conducted as this will be the most practicable application of a vaccine to a wild population.
International contacts and collaboration
Defra officials have visited Ireland several times recently, to discuss the UK and Irish work programmes and areas of potential future collaboration, particularly regarding the design of badger field studies and licensing requirements for BCG. The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) has active research links with Irish, New Zealand and United States workers researching TB. VLA is also collaborating in a Wellcome Trust funded project on vaccination of cattle with BCG in Ethiopia.
Back to Research & Development.
Page last modified:
June 22, 2009