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LONDON - Frontier IP Group plc (AIM: FIPP), a company specializing in commercializing intellectual property, has announced that its portfolio company The Vaccine Group (TVG) has entered into a collaborative agreement with Syva, a leading Spanish animal health group. The partnership aims to develop a vaccine against Streptococcus suis (S.suis), a harmful pig disease with zoonotic potential.
TVG, a spin-out from the University of Plymouth, has been working on the vaccine, supported by two Innovate UK grants, including a £1 million award from the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Frontier IP holds a 16.7% equity stake in TVG.
S.suis affects a significant portion of the global pig population, which is estimated at 780 million. It causes severe economic damage to pig producers and poses health risks to humans, including meningitis and septicaemia. The disease is prevalent in up to 60% of pig farms in Europe and control has largely relied on antibiotics, heightening concerns about antibiotic resistance.
The current vaccines for S.suis are not fully effective due to the disease’s strain variation and the presence of multiple serotypes globally. TVG’s vaccine candidate is designed to provide protection against a wide range of these strains and serotypes.
Syva, which operates in nearly 70 countries, will have the option to negotiate an exclusive worldwide license for any vaccine resulting from the collaboration. The company is headquartered in León, Spain, and has made regular investments in state-of-the-art facilities for the development and production of veterinary medicines.
Neil Crabb, CEO of Frontier IP, expressed optimism about the collaboration’s potential to address the challenges posed by S.suis, not only for livestock but also for human health. The partnership is seen as a testament to TVG’s flexible and novel vaccine technology, which is currently being used to develop vaccines for 12 different livestock and companion animal diseases.
This announcement is based on a press release statement.
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