Intervacc AB (publ) announced that it has been awarded an "industrial research" grant from Vinnova as part of a project with Testa Center, Uppsala, Sweden, to optimise the manufacturing processes of one component for a prototype vaccine for pigs. Intervacc's innovative technology utilises fusion proteins in vaccines to generate broad-acting immune responses that provide protection to animals from complex bacterial diseases. Streptococcus suis causes meningitis, sepsis and arthritis in young piglets, leading to significant costs to the pig industry throughout the world.

Early proof-of-concept studies found that the consumption of colostrum from sows that were vaccinated with Intervacc's prototype vaccine against Streptococcus suis provided significant levels of protection to piglets at 4 and 7 weeks of age against challenge with a virulent strain of Streptococcus suis. Testa Center provide access to a lab environment with a modern, pilot-scale testbed to optimise the scale-up processes required to manufacture biologics. The new industrial research project provides a grant to Intervacc of 800, SEK funded by Vinnova, which corresponds to about 70% of the cost of this development phase at Testa Center.