Frontier IP Group PLC (AIM:FIPP) told investors its portfolio company The Vaccine Group (TVG) has begun animal trials for its African swine fever vaccine (ASF) candidate.
The vaccine is being developed in collaboration with The Pirbright Institute, in a project funded by an industrial partnership award from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
"The ASF vaccine entering animal trials is an important milestone, not just for TVG, but more broadly for efforts to stop this devastating disease,” Frontier IP chief executive Neil Crabb said in a statement.
"ASF has now emerged as a rapidly spreading global threat, yet there is no safe and effective vaccine - and vaccines are the most potent means of preventing disease."
African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease affecting pigs. Mortality rates can reach 100%. The disease has caused an estimated economic impact of $119 billion in China over the past decade.
The vaccine candidate uses a bovine herpesvirus vector and is compatible with DIVA diagnostics. Vaccinated pigs will be challenged with a virulent ASF strain using a model developed at Pirbright.