GUELPH, Ont. – Canadian biotech innovator PlantForm Corporation, Bioapp Inc. and POSCO International of South Korea have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in bringing the world’s first plant-based vaccine for Classical Swine Fever (CSF) to global markets.
Although harmless to humans, CSF is a highly contagious viral disease that affects domestic pigs and wild boar populations, causing severe illness and death in millions of swine each year. While Canada, the United States and much of western Europe are currently free of the disease, CSF outbreaks have devastating animal welfare and economic impacts and the disease is endemic to regions of Central and South America, Asia and Africa.
“This is an important milestone for PlantForm as we continue to expand into new markets and explore new opportunities for plant-made pharmaceuticals generally and for our versatile vivoXPRESS® platform,” said Dr. Don Stewart, PlantForm President and CEO. “PlantForm is proud to partner with Bioapp and POSCO for this project to provide an effective, low-cost vaccine to combat CFS and to improve animal health and welfare in the agriculture sector.”
For more, see the PlantForm news release.