Commercial and Test Development
VLA offers an animal feed testing service at VLA Luddington
VLA is required to seek a return on the public investment made to it by commercialising its research wherever possible. The Commercial and Test Development Programmes aim to provide an efficient, profitable and high quality service to the public and private sectors of the animal health industry.
Commercial Programme
Business Development Manager
Kath Webster
Head of Biotechnology
The Marketing Unit continued to promote the Agency by producing a wide range of marketing literature including a high quality commercial services CD, which outlines the breadth of services available. If you would like a copy please contact marketing@vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk. Open days for commercial companies and the media were held, as well as fielding the constant flow of media questions concerning avian influenza problems. The sale of reagents and services to the veterinary and scientific community has continued and reagent sales were up by nearly 10 percent.
The Business Development team led two successful bids for funding from the Department of Trade and Industry for the exploitation of research from the Public Sector Research Entities. VLA now has a capacity building grant to exploit its Intellectual Property and access to a Proof of Concept fund to develop research into a commercial project. VLA also took part in a bid to join the Rainbow seed fund and has access to funding through the commercialisation cycle. This builds on the very successful InterAct project.
The Scientific Services Unit (SSU) delivers the Agency’s core commercial services, which includes quality, efficacy and safety testing of vaccines, antimicrobials and anti-parasitic compounds. During the year, SSU completed over 60 contracts to a value of approximately £1.2m.
In the latter part of the year, a review of the commercial programme was carried out to identify potential areas for development, which concluded that biological reagents sales should be increased, the provision of proficiency testing schemes should be enhanced and the test development and validation services for diagnostic kits should be expanded.
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Test Development
The aim of this programme is to introduce new tests into routine diagnostic use in order to maintain a modern flexible test portfolio. These tests are validated to a high standard, so that we can interpret the results with confidence.
VLA has some very specialist skills and expertise that include development, optimisation and validation of real-time PCR assays, DNA extraction methods, ELISA and multiplex techniques for a range of veterinary pathogens and a test validation advice service.
Increased commercial activity has lead to the funding of several new test development programmes and some examples of new tests or amendments which were developed, validated or introduced into routine use at VLA include:
- Evaluation of xMAP® technology: carrying out multiple immunoassays in one tube
- Validation and transfer of PCR tests for rapid identification of thermophilic campylobacters from faecal, rectal and caecal samples
- Improving and expanding the capability to identify pathogenic E.coli virulence profiles using PCR-based molecular diagnostics
- Development of a PCR for the detection of Taylorella equigenitalis and differentiation from T.asinigenitalis
- Testing for TB in badgers: development and validation of a routine IFNg assay based on the use of real-time RT-PCR
- Validation of new molecular assays for avian influenza
- Penside molecular diagnostics testing
- Development and validation of RT-PCR assays for PRRS in pigs.
| Commercial Programme |
| Test Development |