Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Available for Commercial Licensing

Is your company interested in licensing this technology for commercial development or do you know of a Montana company that would be interested?

Technology Description:

Agriculture Research Station researchers in Montana have developed a genetically engineered virus that can be
formulated into an effective vaccine for preventing foot-and-mouth disease
(FMD)-the most economically important livestock disease worldwide. The
invention uses an interferon (proteins possesing antiviral properties) DNA
sequence to inoculate livestock. Inoculating animals with this invention
can protect against all serotypes of FMD virus as well as other viral
agents, and is particularly useful for providing early protection to
susceptible animals. FMD is highly infectious and spreads rapidly by
contact or in the air, and causes painful blisters on the tongue, nose or
snout, and feet of livestock.

Since it is highly infectious, FMD-free
countries, including the United States, maintain rigid quarantine and import
restrictions to prevent its introduction to disease-free livestock.
Problems with the current vaccine include difficulty in distinguishing
vaccinated from infected animals, antigenic variation of the virus requiring
production of vaccines against numerous virus serotypes and subtypes, and
the inability to provide rapid immunity. Industry should be interested in a
disease-control strategy that successfully addresses concerns about the
current vaccine.

Potential Commercial Uses:

Worldwide, about one billion doses of FMD vaccine is produced annually.
Biotechnology companies and companies that produce vaccines could develop
this technology for commercial use. Livestock producers worldwide will
benefit from commercialization of this invention.

Patent Status:

Please refer to patent application S.N. 10/128,463, "Foot and Mouth Disease
Virus Vaccine," which was filed on April 24, 2002.

Contact:

Paul Green

Executive Director

Montana Business Incubator

1500 N. University Ave

Billings Mt 59101

[email protected]

406-657-2138

fax 657-2006