SAPHIR: an international and multidisciplinary approach to developing new vaccines for livestock

SAPHIR, which stands for “Strengthening Animal Production and Health through Immune Response”, was selected by the European Commission for its Horizon 2020 research programme (and as a proposal to support Sustainable Food Security as part of its Societal Challenges pillar). It aims at developing vaccination strategies against the endemic pathogens responsible for major economic losses in cattle, pig and poultry farming. Participating in the four-year project are 14 research institutes, 5 SME and a pharmaceutical lab from 11 European countries and China. The project has a €10.7 million budget, with €9 million provided by the Commission and €1.7 million by the Swiss government.

SAPHIR objectives and expected developments

Scientific goals: decipher the mechanisms of immune protection and pathogen invasion; understand the impact of age and host genetics, optimize adjuvant and formulation for rapid, widespread and long-term immunity; induce mucosal immunity.

Technological goals: develop high-tech engineered vaccines that are safe and permit epidemiological monitoring; develop efficient and convenient delivery methods; identify markers of immunocompetence for subsequent breeding of stronger animals.

Socio-economic goals: understand the socio-economic factors that influence the use and acceptability of vaccines by professionals and share information about integrated strategies for livestock health with stakeholders.

Scientists participating in the project are looking at two representative pathologies from each sector for which there is no existing or efficient vaccine available:
For cattle: Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Mycoplasma bovis,
For pigs: Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome Virus and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae,
For poultry: Eimeria species and Clostridium perfringens.