The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development expects the mass production of the first made-in-Vietnam vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease will start in the second quarter of 2018.

Mass production of the first made-in-Vietnam vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease, that affects cattle and pigs, is expected to start in the second quarter of 2018.

The ministry has transferred the virus that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle and pigs, to three domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers – Navetco National Veterinary JSC, Rural Technology Development (RTD) JSC, and Duc Hanh Marphavet Veterinary Pharmaceutical JSC for vaccine production.

This will be the first joint effort made by the animal health authority and businesses to produce the vaccines for domestic use, reducing the country’s reliance on imports.

Each year, Vietnam has to spend 20-30 million USD to import about 40-50 million doses of vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease which has caused severe damage for local livestock farming.

Duc Hanh Marphavet has completed the construction of a facility capable of producing about 20 million doses of foot-and-mouth vaccines, along with training for personnel in charge of the vaccine manufacturing.

Meanwhile, RTD invested in a vaccine production facility that meets WHO’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) last September. -VNA