08/12/2017

Arecor announces successful vaccine stabilising formulation technology

Arecor announces successful vaccine stabilising formulation technology to more effectively combat two major diseases of livestock in the developing world.

Park occupier, Arecor Ltd, a leader in developing superior biopharmaceuticals through the application of an innovative formulation technology platform, ArestatTM, is pleased to announce that the Company, in partnership with, GALVmed (www.galvmed.org), has successfully applied its vaccine formulation technology to stabilise liquid formulations of vaccines to combat two major diseases of livestock in the developing world. 


‘Goat Plague’ or Peste des petits ruminants (PPR): Goat Plague is a viral disease of goats and sheep, which causes the deaths of millions of animals in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and: 


East Coast fever (ECF): Stable “ArestatTM” liquid formulations of diluents for the vaccine were produced to protect against East Coast fever, a tick-borne disease, which is the single biggest killer of cattle in East Africa and parts of Central Africa 


Peste des petits ruminants (PPR): The newly developed ArestatTM liquid formulation of the PPR vaccine demonstrates a minimum of 12-month storage stability at 2-8oC with no corresponding loss in activity. The PPR vaccine is currently only stable at 2-8oC when stored in freeze dried powder form. 


Furthermore, this new Arecor PPR vaccine formulation includes specific combinations of excipients that form part of the Arecor’s proprietary formulation platform technology, which have previously been shown to stabilise vaccines including Measles and which come from the same Paramyxoviridae viral family as PPR. This new formulation allows the PPR vaccine to be manufactured without a costly and time-consuming freeze drying operation, which reduces its per-dose cost to farmers. The new vaccine can now also be distributed pre-prepared in a liquid format without the requirement for in-field reconstitution.

East Coast fever (ECF): The new ArestatTM liquid diluent developed for the reconstitution of the ECF vaccine can be stored at ambient temperature for more than two years before use and it replaces the current diluent that can only be stored in frozen form. On introduction of the ArestatTM formulation, it has also been possible to reduce the cost of a batch of diluent by 96%. This substantially reduces the vaccination cost to farmers, which in turn improves the vaccine’s distribution and uptake.

GALVmed’s CSO, Jeremy Salt, commented: “I am thrilled that our collaboration has produced a stunning result and that Arecor’s extensive expertise and skill in developing formulations and stabilisers has been innovative and fruitful. I very much look forward to working with Arecor and seeing them apply their knowledge and skill in the production of products and vaccines to help tackle the huge challenges that PPR & ECF present to livestock keepers in the developing world.

“Around 900 million people rely on their livestock for their daily needs and it is vital that vaccines, medicines and diagnostics are as accessible and affordable as possible to people living in poverty”.  

Arecor’s CEO, Sarah Howell, commented: “We are very pleased to have been asked to collaborate and to be so tangibly involved in a project that supports GALVmed’s charitable mission in developing countries.This undertaking has presented us and our ArestatTM formulation technology with an ideal platform upon which to demonstrate how our technology can be both ground-breaking and pivotal. Optimising vaccines for thermostability to reduce the cold chain burden has always been a key focus for us and I am confident and excited that this successful breakthrough will positively impact upon countless lives across the developing world”.

In summary, the utility and affordability of the PPR and ECF vaccines has been substantially improved through Arecor’s formulation approach and the Company is delighted to advise that its work in this field has been supported by Innovate UK through UK aid of the UK government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Furthermore, the Company is pleased it has been invited to present its findings at a conference organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in Rome on 11-12th December 2017.