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The Path to a PRRS-Resistant Pig: A Look at What’s Next

Where is the pork industry on its path to a PRRS-resistant pig? Matt Culbertson, chief operating officer at PIC, says the industry is entering the final chapter of the story before the opportunity to commercialize pig genetics that are resistant to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). These pigs were developed utilizing non-transgenic gene editing to inactivate a specific gene, CD163, that exists in the pig and allows PRRS infection to occur.  

“We are at the point of finalizing regulatory approval activities in multiple geographies around the globe that should allow the necessary framework for not only production in many key pork producing countries, like the U.S., but also for uninterrupted global movement of pork products,” Culbertson said during a presentation at the Carthage Swine Conference. 

PIC is scaling up its own internal production of the PRRS-resistant populations to be ready for the potential launch.

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Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

Gascho acknowledged at the outset that vaccination can quickly become a technical and sometimes tedious topic. But he said that real-world execution, not complex immunology, is where most vaccine failures occur.