New technology fish vaccines for unmet diseases

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Previwo has a novel technological approach to bacterial disease vaccine protocols. The company is presently engaged in proving that technology to tackle two economically significant diseases; Salmonid Rickettsial Septicaemia (SRS) and Tenacibaculosis affecting farmed salmon globally. Representatives of both genera cause serious disease in farmed salmonid populations around the world, specifically in Canada and Chile, both also in Norway. Treatment of disease in the marine environment with antimicrobial compounds is the main addressment, and despite many vaccines for SRS, preventative approaches have been only partially successful and there have been as yet, no vaccines available for Tenacibaculum spp. Alternative preventative approaches to mitigate these diseases are a high un-met need. This project acknowledges and will investigate the diversity and microbial ecology of the two bacterial genera. Tenacibaculum spp. are separated as those in the maritimum species and those in a broader category of non-maritumum species. Pisciriskettsia salmonis are also characterised in two main sub-species. The pathogenesis of either disease is not fully understood, but it does appear that the bacteria appear to dynamically change their pathogenic repertoire depending on its microecological environment (host tissue type, immune response, nutrient availability). The broad-based approach to inclusion antigens produced in a manufacturing vaccine protocol that mimics the conditions and tissue tropism in the body where the pathogens propagate is the main discovery of Previwo’ s new technology. We will develop vaccines through the research and development phase to address these serious and economically devastating bacterial fish diseases and broaden the company’s strategic focus in preventative health products, currently focused on microbial enhancement products for farmed salmon and cleaner fish to include vaccines.