New Rift Valley fever vaccine moves toward rollout in Africa
Pirbright and GALVmed partner on safer option for pregnant stock
21 August 2025
2 minute read
By: The Pirbright Institute, through the Centre for Veterinary Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing (CVIM), has entered into a new agreement with GALVmed to develop and deploy a safer and more effective Rift Valley fever (RVF)vaccine for use in low- and middle-income countries, particularly across Africa, according to a recently-issued press release.
The partnership builds on a longstanding relationship between Pirbright and GALVmed, combining CVIM’s expertise in vaccine development and evaluation with GALVmed’s experience in facilitating efficient delivery of quality veterinary products to small-scale producers in Africa.
GALVmed will work with a local manufacturing partner to transfer the vaccine technology from CVIM, conduct safety and efficacy testing, including in the field, and secure market authorisation.
The candidate vaccine is a replication-incompetent viral-vectored vaccine, which has been shown to be safe in pregnant animals, addressing a major limitation of existing licensed RVF vaccines. Current options, including live-attenuated and inactivated vaccines, can cause abortion or foetal malformations when used in gestating livestock, or require multiple boosters that make them difficult to deploy during outbreaks.
RVF is a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease, endemic to much of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, that affects primarily livestock, particularly sheep, goats and cattle, but can also infect humans.
In livestock, the disease is characterised by high mortality rates and abortion, resulting in devastating socioeconomic impacts. Disease outbreaks can disrupt milk production, meat supply, and trade, hitting the livelihoods of farmers and associated industries.
The disease also poses a serious public health threat, as humans can be infected through contact with infected animals or their tissues. While most cases cause mild symptoms, severe disease can occur, particularly in pregnant women.
“CVIM and GALVmed working together will transition a very promising vaccine candidate from the laboratory to commercial production," said Bryan Charleston MRCVS FRS, director of The Pirbright Institute. "This programme will deliver a safe and effective vaccine against Rift Valley fever, a major livestock and zoonotic disease in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula."
“RVF continues to be a major issue for smallholder farmers, and despite products being available they do have constraints in terms of safety and efficacy," said Steve Wilson, director of research and development at GALVmed. "The collaboration with CVIM, and appropriate industrial partners, will enable a new technology solution for the control of RVF to be introduced in Africa providing cross-species efficacy and improved safety for livestock."
By developing a safer vaccine suitable for use in pregnant animals, the CVIM–GALVmed collaboration aims to give farmers and veterinary authorities a vital tool to protect livestock, safeguard livelihoods, and reduce public health risks.
