GALVmed R&D specialises in product development partnerships uniquely established to translate publicly and privately funded research into tangible livestock disease control tools for use by small-scale livestock producers (SSP) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Since its inception, GALVmed has worked on several priority diseases that have been identified as imposing severe constraints on small-scale agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and focussing primarily on vaccine development projects for poultry, large and small ruminants, and pigs. Within these species the initial programmes evaluated process improvements with existing products, such as CBPP vaccine, or the development and dissemination of poultry vaccines by multiple companies, such as with Newcastle Disease vaccines. All the projects have been in collaboration with key stakeholders, such as the animal health industry or regional laboratory networks, to deliver maximum benefit to small-scale livestock producers and their animals.
The Veterinary Innovations Transforming Animal health and Livelihoods (VITAL) program brought about a shift from supporting individual vaccine development or improvement to promoting vaccines combatting more than one target disease, for poultry and ruminants. Combination vaccines have the advantage of reducing or preventing disease caused by multiple bacterial or viral agents at reduced cost and logistics compared with multiple single vaccine administrations.
As we look forward to a more productive small-scale livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa, GALVmed will increasingly incorporate work on a wider range of infectious diseases. Therefore, in addition to the original diseases, which were primarily Neglected Tropical Diseases, GALVmed will continue to consider the inclusion of projects on prevention, diagnosis, control and treatment of all infectious diseases that, based on refreshed evidence of needs, have the potential for benefitting small-scale producers.
These activities form the basis of the future GALVmed R&D programme, with its three strategic pillars: (1) priority diseases to be tackled using vaccines, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics and surveillance, (2) improvements in production processes, and (3) formation of alliances with key external stakeholders.
