Taiwan-developed vaccine approved in South Korea

A Taiwan-developed vaccine for progressive atrophic rhinitis in pigs has been approved for sale in South Korea. Bayer AG, the Germany-based pharmaceutical company that helped market the vaccine, said it was also awaiting approval from several other countries.

The vaccine — AR recombinant subunit PMT vaccine — was developed by a team led by Chien Maw-sheng (簡茂盛), a professor at the Graduate Institute of Veterinary Pathology at National Chung Hsing University. AR is an acronym for atrophic rhinitis, while PMT is short for pasteurella multocida toxin.

At a press conference in Taipei, Chien said the vaccine, made by genetically reassembling the surface proteins of the atrophic rhinitis virus, could stimulate the pig’s immune system to fight off infection.

Chien said the vaccine was better than its counterparts in terms of production process, higher safety and lower cost.

Chien said that the vaccine took 15 years to become fully functional and that with the help of Bayer AG, the drug received a green light for sale in Taiwan in 2004.

The company then applied for a sales permit in South Korea for the vaccine. In the coming two years, the company hopes to win approval for the vaccine in China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, the US and Mexico.