The Council of Agriculture’s (COA) Animal Health Research Institute yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Great Wall Enterprise Co to develop veterinary vaccines for the Taiwanese and Southeast Asian markets.
Great Wall, which last year celebrated its 60th anniversary, began as a soybean oil maker, but now produces poultry and seafood products, animal fodder and restaurant supplies, as well as agricultural biotechnology.
The agreement is to focus on developing vaccines with greater commercial potential, the council said, adding that the institute would share its techniques with the company through nonexclusive licenses.
Nearly 85 percent of animal vaccines used in Taiwan are imported from overseas, as there is not enough demand to support developers, COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said, but added that the council hopes Great Wall will supply vaccines for the domestic market as well as Southeast Asia.
Asked if avian flu vaccines would be developed, Huang said that the council has stopped developing vaccines for ribonucleic acid-based viruses, such as the bird flu, because they can easily mutate.
Great Wall chairman Charles Han (韓家宇) said that he was optimistic about the collaboration, because the institute has many cutting-edge technologies for managing animal health, adding that the company plans to first develop vaccines against bird diseases and then against swine diseases.
However, no vaccine has been developed for African swine fever, so infected pigs should be culled at once to prevent it from spreading, Han said, echoing the council’s call to keep the disease out of Taiwan.
In the second half of next year, the company expects to launch vaccines for common bird diseases such as Newcastle disease, infectious coryza and fowl pox, said Liang Chien-kuo (梁建國), senior vice president of the company’s animal nutrition research institute.
The firm would market its animal vaccines in Taiwan, followed by Southeast Asia, Liang said, adding that it has established branches in Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar.
Although it has operations in Beijing, developing animal vaccines in China is more difficult due to stricter regulations on vaccine development, he said, but added that the Chinese market remains in the company’s expansion plans.
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