SERDANG: More priority should be given to local vaccines to boost the country’s vaccine industry.
University Putra Malaysia (UPM) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine dean Prof Dr Abdul Rahman Omar said the move would allow the industry to grow and subsequently open up opportunities for locals.
“Importing is fine provided local technology is not available. (But) in Malaysia, we have the expertise to develop good vaccines and by right, we should prioritise our vaccines,” he said after the signing of licensing agreement between Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Malaysian Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals Sdn Bhd (MVP) for genotype match Newcastle Disease (ND) vaccine at the university today.
Present were UPM board of directors chairman Tan Sri Ghauth Jasmon, vice-chancellor Prof Datin Paduka Dr Aini Ideris, deputy vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Zulkifli Idrus, MVP chairman Datuk Dr Mhd Nordin Mohd Nor, and executive director Rashidah Ibrahim.
Dr Rahman said in some countries, they have adopted policies where priority is given to local vaccines.
On the genotype match ND vaccine, which was developed after more than five years of research, Dr Rahman said it would be able to stop the outbreak of ND in the field.
ND is caused by the Newcastle disease virus that is a highly contagious disease that causes devastating economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide.
Dr Rahman, who led the project, said at the moment vaccines are available to control the ND disease, but unfortunately the outbreak of the disease was still happening in farms in Malaysia and many parts of the world.
“The immunity used by the current vaccine is no longer optimum to provide complete protection. (And) after intensive research, we have successfully developed a new generation of vaccine; genotype match ND vaccine which is very promising and should able to stop the outbreak of Newcastle disease in the field,” he said.
He added that the signing with MVP would allow the vaccine to be commercialised and used in Malaysia and other countries.
MVP has been working closely with UPM since 1993 and currently, there are four other products from the university that have been successfully commercialised by MVP, namely MyVAC ND V4 Heat Resistant, MyVAC Fowl Pox, MyVAC UPM 93 and MyHatch IBD UPM93.