16 January 2008
BOXMEER (the Netherlands), January 16, 2008 – Animal health company Intervet International bv, part of Schering-Plough Corporation, has developed a vaccine against Bluetongue serotype 8, for sheep and cattle. The vaccine has been taken into production now. Intervet is aiming to deliver the first quantities of vaccine in May.“We can now provide a safe and efficacious vaccine helping to fight this devastating disease”, says Paul van Aarle, Director Institutional Sales of Intervet. “We are currently optimizing the production process and we expect to have more insight in the overall production capacities by March.”
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), already placed an order with Intervet to supply 22.5 million doses of Bluetongue vaccine. Intervet’s Bluetongue vaccine recently gained a temporary license in France. Based on this license, other member states of the European Union can allow usage of the vaccine to control the disease.
As the global leader in the development and supply of vaccines to support animal health and welfare, Intervet has been actively working on a vaccine against this virus since its emergence in Northern Europe in 2006 to meet the urgent need as quickly as possible.
The vaccine has been developed for sheep and for cattle. While sheep need to be vaccinated only once, cattle will need two vaccinations. The Bluetongue control strategy and vaccine purchase and supply are defined by the national authorities.
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Note for the editor
Schering-Plough is an innovation-driven, science-centered global health care company. Through its own biopharmaceutical research and collaborations with partners, Schering-Plough creates therapies that help save and improve lives around the world. The company applies its research-and-development platform to human prescription and consumer products as well as to animal health products. In November 2007, Schering-Plough acquired Organon BioSciences, with its Organon human health and Intervet animal health businesses, marking a pivotal step in the company's ongoing transformation. Schering-Plough’s vision is to “Earn Trust, Every Day” with the doctors, patients, customers and other stakeholders served by its approximately 50,000 people around the world. The company is based in Kenilworth, N.J., and its website is www.schering-plough.com.”
