By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
An Iowa-based firm, Harrisvaccines has been given the go-ahead by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (UDSA) to sell its vaccine to combat the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv).
This is the first approved licensed vaccine for the pig-killing virus, or PED, which has killed more than eight million hogs in the United Stated since it was first detected on a farm in North Carolina the spring of 2013.
“Using our unique rapid-response production methods, we were able to create a vaccine in a matter of weeks after the outbreak,” Joel Harris, Head of Sales and Marketing for Harrisvaccines said in a release.
According to the company, since last year, they’ve sold almost 2 million doses of the vaccine through veterinary prescription, however, the conditional license now allows the company to sell its vaccine directly to pig farmers.
The approval is for a conditional license, a move that the USDA does sometimes grant in order to meet an emergency-type need, which in this case would be PEDv. But like most USDA approved products, it has to meet certain criteria. Conditionally licensed products must demonstrate “a reasonable expectation of efficacy” and safety standards.