The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and its board have approved a proposal to allow qualifying private companies to use the council's intellectual property to manufacture its Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine at scale.
Source: Supplied
The decision, approved on Monday, 21 September, is aimed at addressing the ARC's current manufacturing constraints and increasing the availability of its FMD vaccine during the outbreak.
Under conditional IP licensing agreements with the ARC, local and international companies will be able to manufacture the vaccine, while the ARC continues to expand its own production capacity.
Private production to increase supply
The ARC currently cannot manufacture its FMD vaccine at scale because of manufacturing constraints.
The department says the ARC vaccine is an effective defence against the domestic FMD strains and requires a single annual administration.
The new licensing arrangement is intended to allow third-party manufacturers to help increase production while the ARC rebuilds and expands its own manufacturing capacity.
Minister of Agriculture Willie Aucamp said the decision would bring the private sector into production of the ARC vaccine for the first time.
“I’ve listened to the concerns of farmers and other stakeholders in the sector, and I appreciate that they want swift action to deal with this Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak. It is against this background that we are now, for the first time, going to allow the private sector to make use of the IP of the ARC to enhance the availability of the ARC vaccine.”
ARC retains manufacturing role
The ARC will continue to rebuild its internal FMD vaccine manufacturing capacity alongside third-party production.
Any income generated by the licensing agreements will be ringfenced by the ARC and used to increase its own FMD vaccine manufacturing capacity.
Aucamp said implementation would take time, but that the decision would help address the outbreak.
“Although the implementation of this decision will not happen overnight, it is a huge step forward in combating this FMD outbreak, and I am proud to confirm that all parties involved have committed to do whatever they can to ensure that this decision is implemented without delay.”
Second vaccine-matching assessment
Separately, the ARC will submit representative FMD field-circulating virus isolates from South Africa to the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom in October for a second round of vaccine-matching assessments.
The exercise will provide an additional scientific assessment of the suitability of available local and imported vaccines against FMD viruses currently circulating in South Africa.
Focus on livestock biosecurity
Following the ARC board decision, Aucamp said private-sector manufacturing would support livestock protection and the country's food supply chains.
“Partnering with the private sector to manufacture the ARC vaccine marks a decisive breakthrough in safeguarding South Africa’s livestock sector, strengthening national biosecurity, and securing food supply chains.”
The Department of Agriculture said it would continue working with commodity organisations, provincial veterinary services, the ARC, organised agriculture and other stakeholders on the country's FMD control programme.
