MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA, announced a collaboration agreement with Rapid Genomics which grants the company exclusive rights to Rapid Genomics’ vaccination verification tool, Viral Flex-Seq®. This tool will be utilized in combination with MSD Animal Health’s Innovax® range of vaccines, including Innovax®-ND-IBD, a unique vaccine that provides long-term protection against three infectious poultry diseases, Newcastle Disease (ND), Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) and Marek’s Disease (MD), in a single dose. The collaboration was announced at the 2019 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE).
“This partnership will bring together MSD Animal Health’s unique broad vaccine product line and Rapid Genomics’ innovative vaccination verification test, to optimize and enhance disease outbreak management in poultry for improved animal health and welfare,” said Taylor Barbosa, DVM, Ph.D., ACPV, Executive Director, Global Poultry Marketing, MSD Animal Health. “As the poultry industry grows, there is an increased need for improving disease control to optimize productivity and we are committed to growing with the industry to bring innovative solutions to our customers.”
Viral Flex-Seq® is a product that provides a highly-sensitive and accurate result to confirm the presence of the vaccine replication in the bird. Viral Flex-Seq® uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, an advanced method of genomic analysis, to specifically detect replication of Innovax® vaccines and differentiate them from field viruses. “We are proud and excited to partner with MSD Animal Health, an industry-leading poultry vaccine company,” said Richard Currie, BVM&S, Ph.D., CEO, Rapid Genomics. “This partnership supports our mission as innovators in the field of genomic testing to set the standard for HVT vector vaccine detection and associated infectious pathogen diagnosis.”
MSD Animal Health’s commitment to innovation
MSD Animal Health has hosted several interactive customer forums at the IPPE, aimed at helping customers learn more about the latest innovation in poultry production across the world. Topics included next-generation sequencing as a diagnostic tool for the evaluation of vaccine takes with the Innovax® vaccine range; non-antibiotic based strategies to prevent and treat diseases in poultry; and integrated approaches to environment, nutrition and biosecurity to reduce disease in poultry.
At the MSD Animal Health booth, customers have had the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge hatchery solutions from leading device companies, which can be used in complement with the Innovax® range of vaccines to optimize protection against common infectious poultry diseases:
- In ovo vaccination technology that offers earlier immunity, uniform vaccine delivery and reduced stress on the birds, as well as lower labor costs.
- Constant pressure spray technology that optimizes accuracy and efficiency of vaccine delivery, eliminating delivery through syringes.
- Subcutaneous vaccination that provides a high standardization and accuracy for vaccine delivery.
MSD Animal Health is also committed to offering unique learning opportunities for customers, and recently hosted a first-of-its-kind hands-on learning opportunity within the poultry industry for key customers from 22 countries and nearly 50 poultry professionals, at a hatchery in Hungary. The two-week training program featured a “Hatchery: A to Z” curriculum, providing participants with access to every part of the hatchery process, including learning opportunities that highlighted troubleshooting, disease and issue identification, preparation of equipment, evaluation of vaccine administration, egg breakouts and chick quality assessments.
MSD Animal Health is a leader in animal health vaccines, with a broad product line of poultry vaccines against most major pathogens and a focus on diseases affecting broilers, breeders and layers. With a robust R&D pipeline spanning key disease areas, the companyaims to advance vaccine and pharmaceutical scientific innovations in veterinary medicine in poultry as well as in other species areas.
For more information on MSD Animal Health’s commitment to innovation, please visit www.msd-animal-health.com. For more information on Rapid Genomics and Viral Flex-Seq®, please visit https://www.rapid-genomics.com/viral-flex-seq/.
