Vijayawada: 

Biolumpivaxin, which is approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), is the world’s first and safest DIVA (Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals) marker vaccine, which will help in disease surveillance to protect livestock from lumpy skin disease (LSD).

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu launched Biolumpivaxin, a lumpy skin disease (LSD) vaccine indigenously developed by Biovet, a subsidiary of Bharat Biotech, at the Livestock Prosperity Conclave in Vijayawada on Wednesday. Biolumpivaxin is aimed at promoting livestock health and a disease-free animal husbandry, offering widespread relief to farmers and livestock owners across the region.

Thanking CM Naidu for launching the vaccine, Dr. Krishna Ella, Founder, Biovet, and Executive Chairman of Bharat Biotech, said, 'We are truly honoured. Livestock, alongside our human resources, represents one of the nation’s greatest assets, contributing significantly to our economy and overall prosperity. We carry a deep responsibility to protect this sector, ensure the well-being of the dairy industry, and advance the nation's Atmanirbhar Bharat vision."

Speaking after launching the vaccine, CM Chandrababu Naidu lauded Biovet for the development, and commercialisation of this unique livestock vaccine. "It is heartening to note the availability of world-class, made in India vaccine," he said. He emphasised that all viable measures should be taken earnestly to ensure the effective rollout of the vaccine, which not only can contribute to the state’s targeted 20% livestock growth trajectory but also promote the long-term sustainability of the dairy industry.

Biolumpivaxin is a novel indigenous live-attenuated marker vaccine developed by using the LSD virus/Ranchi/2019 vaccine strain from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar, in collaboration with Biovet.

The quality, safety, and efficacy of Biolumpivaxin have been extensively tested at the ICAR-IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) and the Indian ICAR-NRCE ensuring it meets the highest global standards. The vaccine also enables serological differentiation between naturally-infected and vaccinated animals with the DIVA concept.

This LSD vaccine is a single vaccination regimen given once in a year to cattle and buffaloes of all ages. The presentation is in multi-dose vials from 25 doses up to a maximum of 100 doses per vial and the vaccine is stable at 2-8° C storage temperature.

Biovet can produce 500 million doses of the vaccine from its production facilities in Bengaluru, ensuring sustainable supplies.

According to national statistics by the animal husbandry, dairy ministry, there have been two major outbreaks of LSD in India, the first in 2019 and the second in 2022. During these outbreaks, approximately 200,000 cattle have died, and millions more cattle have lost their milk production capabilities due to lumpy skin disease (LSD).

When a livestock contracts LSD, it suffers from high fever and painful skin nodules that can prove fatal and contaminate milk production. The infection drastically reduces milk yield, posing a serious threat to large-scale dairies and disrupting the broader milk supply chain.

The animal husbandry and dairying, fisheries and the livestock sector have grown around 10% in the nine years and contributed to total agriculture and allied sector to over 30% from 24.36%.

The dairy industry is a vital pillar of India’s economy, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP and providing a reliable source of daily income to hundreds of millions of farmers, especially women, in rural areas. The introduction of preventive vaccines like Biolumpivaxin will have a transformative effect on every village and district, ensuring the health of cattle and the continued growth and resilience of the dairy sector.

Bilumpivaxin is provided in freeze-dried form with stabilizing agents for long-term stability. Diluent for the reconstitution of freeze-dried vaccine is provided separately. Each vaccine dose contains NLT log10 3.5 /mL. It is a single vaccination regimen given once in a year to cattle and buffaloes above 3 months of age.

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