The SAPHIR project has well progressed since its launch in March 2015, and the advances been appreciated by the EC appointed monitors at the review meeting organised on November 24th 2016 in Brussels. Interesting results have already been generated in all pillars with excellent interaction across partners.
In Pillar A (socio-economic analyses of SAPHIR diseases), a framework for assessing the economic impact of animal diseases has been set up based on a model integrating production losses, expenditures, reduced access to the market, sub-optimal technologies, environmental impacts and animal welfare, in a one health perspective. At the social level, a conceptual framework of the vaccine perception by livestock producers has been built. The socio-economical frameworks are currently implemented through data collections and interviews in different countries including China.
In Pillar B (pathogen-specific vaccines), several strategies have well progressed, with most under confidentiality restriction. They include: new PRRSV attenuated vaccines, inactivated and attenuated Mycoplasma hyopneumonia vaccine candidates, genetically complemented Eimeria populations, recombinant Bacillus subtilis expressing a Clostridium perfringens antigen, an efficient one shot vaccine made of BRSV recombinant proteins, several antigen candidates from Mycoplasma bovis.
In Pillar C (generic strategies) toll-like receptor ligands of the TLR2, 7 and 21 (chicken)/9 (pig) types were found to be efficient at stimulating different immune cell types in vitro, with specific profiles depending of the age of the animal. Suitable lipid formulations are being tested for optimal stability and delivery. New generation of DNA vaccines and viral replicon particles are cu​rrently being constructed to elicit broad immunity against PRRSV. Targeting units for optimal interaction with antigen presenting cells have been validated.
Skin patches loaded with PRRSV-DNA vaccines formulated on micro-particles and with inactivated PRRSV have been produced and are currently compared to conventional routes of inoculation for immunogenicity. Large pig and chicken cohorts have been vaccinated to identify biomarkers predictive of vaccine responses. A database has been set up and access codes are available to SAPHIR partners.
In Pillar D (translation to the market), most of the work will be conducted in the third year. Tools have been prepared to predict vaccine effectiveness in the field, i.e. 1) a wiki-site on the SAPHIR pathogen vaccine risks that may jeopardise vaccine effectiveness (restricted to SAPHIR partners for the moment which will be public at the end of the project) and 2) a first dynamic mechanistic model of the impact of several immune parameters on the control of PRRSV infection.
In Pillar E (dissemination and training), several actions have been successfully accomplished.
The SAPHIR public website has been launched in 2015. Interactions with stakeholders of the animal production and pharmaceutical industry sectors have been initiated at the first SAPHIR annual meeting in May 2016 and has been further extended at the EAAP meeting in August 2016. The integrated health strategy website has been created for improving sustainability of the livestock production sector in a holistic manner integrating vaccination, biosecurity measures, better breeds and nutrition. A first training workshop of a Global Alliance for Veterinary Vaccinology was co-organised in May 2016 with PARAGONE (H2020 project) and the UK Veterinary Vaccinology Network and gathered more than 50 people including early carrier and senior scientists from public and private organisations.