€ 17 million for the development of animal vaccines

The Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Maxime Verhagen, has decided to invest € 17 million in knowledge development and high-value infrastructure for the development of vaccines against zoonoses. Zoonoses are diseases that can be transmitted from humans to animals, for example Q fever and avian flu. The financing forms part of the economic top sector life sciences.

'The spread of infectious diseases by humans and animals is increasing', says Minister Verhagen. 'As the Netherlands is very densely populated, we are more prone to a rapid spread of these diseases. The Netherlands therefore wants to retain responsibility for the development of vaccines within its own borders. It is not in our national interest to allow another country to do this for us.' A national research facility is needed for the development of vaccines against zoonoses carried by agricultural animals. This will be built at the Central Veterinary Institute (CVI) in Lelystad, part of Wageningen UR. This facility is intended for both public and private use and offers the possibility to do zoonosis research that cannot be done in the Netherlands at present. The Province of Flevoland will also make a financial contribution towards the construction of this facility that will be completed during the course of 2013. The investment provides opportunities for the Netherlands to acquire and valorise unique knowledge. The € 17 million will therefore be supplied to a public-private partnership under the leadership of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. Other participants in the consortium are Wageningen UR and veterinary medicinal product manufacturer Intervet in Boxmeer. RIVM/Netherlands Vaccine Institute are also involved in the venture.

Infrastructure vaccine development

Besides the research facility, a long-term research programme is needed for the acquisition of knowledge about zoonoses vaccines. This programme covers a plan to control zoonoses more effectively using vaccines. It will not just tackle zoonoses already found in the Netherlands but also ones not present yet, such as West Nile virus and Rift Valley Fever. Intervet, one of the programme’s financiers, will make a substantial contribution to the research programme. According to Minister Verhagen the financing fits superbly within the government’s policy for economic growth and employment opportunities in the area of the top sector life sciences. The collaboration between the worlds of veterinary and human health is extremely important for the control of zoonoses. This collaboration will acquire a clearer form in this project and opportunities for knowledge valorisation will arise that will lead to job creation. Furthermore, the project builds upon the recently presented EmZoo research of RIVM. The EmZoo report is an inventory of zoonoses that might become prevalent in the Netherlands.