Biovet says Biolumpivaxin is the first Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) marker vaccine globally for LSD and will be launched shortly.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Animal health vaccine maker and Bharat Biotech group firm Biovet on Monday (February 10, 2025) said it has received the Central Drug Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) licence for the lumpy skin disease (LSD) vaccine for dairy cattle and buffaloes Biolumpivaxin it developed in collaboration with Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).
As the first Differentiation of Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) marker vaccine globally for LSD, it offers a high safety and efficacy profile while enabling serological differentiation between naturally infected and vaccinated animals, the Karnataka-based Biovet said in a release on Monday.
The vaccine will soon be made commercially available. Biovet’s Mallur facility can produce 500 million doses of the vaccine annually, it said
ICAR and its scientists made significant contributions and played a crucial role in the development of this collaborative, world-class vaccine for animal health. The novel indigenous live-attenuated marker vaccine was developed using the LSD virus/Ranchi/2019 vaccine strain from ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar. The quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine was tested at ICAR-NRCE and at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI).
The vaccine is the result of three years of research by scientists at NRCE led by Naveen Kumar (now Director, NIV-Pune) under the leadership of B.N.Tripathi, former DDG, Animal Sciences, ICAR and presently Vice Chancellor, SKUAST, Jammu, Biovet said.
“The CDSCO licensure is a significant step toward India’s self-reliance in veterinary healthcare, which avoids dependency on imported vaccines. This DIVA marker vaccine is a game-changer for veterinary medicine for disease surveillance and eradication programmes and poised to play a crucial role in ensuring the dairy industry’s sustainability,“ Biovet founder Krishna Ella said.
Over the past two years in India, approximately 2 lakh cattle died and many more lost their milk production capabilities due to LSD. Biolumpivaxin, which comes in freeze-dried form, is a single vaccination regimen given once in a year to cattle and buffaloes above 3 months of age.
Published – February 10, 2025 01:56 pm IST
