The Central Drug Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) has granted a license to Biolumpivaxin, India’s first vaccine against lumpy skin disease (LSD) in dairy cattle and buffaloes. The announcement was made by Biovet, a Bharat Biotech group company, on Monday.
The innovative live-attenuated marker vaccine, developed using the LSD virus/Ranchi/2019 vaccine strain from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar, was commercialized to at least four vaccine manufacturers, including the Bengaluru-based Biovet, in 2022.
“Biolumpivaxin is India’s first LSD vaccine. It is also the world’s safest and first-ever Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) marker vaccine,” said Biovet, an innovative animal health vaccine producer based in Mallur, Karnataka, in a statement.
The vaccine, expected to launch soon, promises high safety and efficacy while enabling serological differentiation between naturally infected and vaccinated animals with the DIVA concept. The quality, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine have been extensively tested at ICAR-NRCE and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), ensuring it meets the highest global standards.
“This DIVA marker vaccine is a game-changer for veterinary medicine for disease surveillance and eradication programs. Epidemiologists and field workers can now distinguish if an animal received Biolumpivaxin or was previously infected with LSD,” said Dr. Krishna Ella, Founder of Biovet, in the statement.
Dr. Ella added, “The CDSCO licensure for this vaccine is a significant step toward India’s self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat) in veterinary healthcare, which avoids dependency on imported vaccines. As India moves toward a disease-free livestock population, this path-breaking vaccine will play a crucial role in ensuring the dairy industry’s sustainability.”
Biovet noted that “Biolumpivaxin will very soon be commercially available. The Biovet Mallur facility can produce 500 million doses of Biolumpivaxin annually.”
LSD is a transboundary animal disease that has significantly impacted cattle health and the dairy industry in India. The disease is characterized by the development of skin nodules across the body, fever, swollen lymph nodes, decreased milk yield, and difficulty in movement. Transmission is largely attributed to vector bites from mosquitoes, ticks, and other biting insects.
Over the past two years, about 200,000 cattle have died across the nation, while millions more have lost their milk production capabilities due to LSD. Biolumpivaxin is administered as a single vaccination regimen once a year to cattle and buffaloes over three months of age.
In clinical trials, thousands of cattle and buffaloes were vaccinated under field conditions by ICAR-NRCE, Hisar, and Biovet. The vaccine was found to be safe and efficacious in all groups of animals, including pregnant and lactating cattle and buffaloes, as well as breeding bulls.
