TVG is delighted to announce that a vaccine candidate to tackle Streptococcus suis (“S.suis”) in pigs developed with University of Plymouth using grant funding from Innovate UK funding has outperformed a leading commercially available vaccine in a challenge trial conducted at Moredun Scientific Limited (“MSL”).
The trial showed TVG’s vaccine is effective against a heterologous serotype of the disease. A challenge model with S. suis serotype 1 in young pigs was developed by MSL specifically for this programme. Our vaccine demonstrated solid clinical protection based upon several parameters. The candidate vaccine was designed to incorporate antigens broadly present in most S. suis serotypes, with the specific intention of creating a cross-serotype protective vaccine. This is a market gap with the currently available commercial vaccines for S. suis.
The results follow the outstanding success of the Company’s bovine respiratory syncytial virus (“BRSV”) vaccine candidates in cattle announced in November 2025. In addition to demonstrating superior performance to an existing vaccine, the results provide further strong validation for the TVG’s technology because:
- Positive results in pigs, alongside the previous results in cattle show TVG’s underlying bovine herpesvirus vaccine delivery platform is highly effective across multiple species;
- The bovine herpesvirus platform has now been shown to combat different pathogen types with efficacy in bacterial diseases, such as S.suis, as well as viral diseases such as BRSV.
S.suis is an economically damaging pig disease that can jump to humans, causing meningitis, septicaemia and other symptoms. It is endemic in the global pig population, estimated at 780 million strong, and affects up to 60 per cent of European pig farms.
Highly respected, MSL is among the foremost Contract Research Organisations specialising in animal health and aquaculture in the UK.
TVG’s vaccine evolved from a collaboration with University of Plymouth, two Chinese academic institutions and the country’s Pulike Biological Engineering Company. Subsequent work was supported by further grant funding from Innovate UK. TVG has also entered a collaboration with leading Spanish animal health group Syva to develop a separate S.suis vaccine. Syva will have the option to license any vaccine developed via the collaboration.
The Company is already in talks with major animal health companies over commercial development of its BRSV vaccine candidates for use in cattle.
Jeremy Salt, TVG Chief Executive Officer said: “These results show how useful the BoHV-4 platform can be in delivering a wide range of efficacious vaccines for livestock. One of the key issues with control of S. suis infection is the ability to protect against multiple serotypes. In this study we have demonstrated clearly that our candidate vaccine has this ability.”