UVAXX, a subsidiary of Singapore-based farmer Barramundi Group and the government-run Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR)'s Infectious Diseases Labs have developed a long-awaited fish vaccine for scale drop disease virus (SDDV), the former announced.

read also

Viability of barramundi farming in Singapore depends on vaccine trials

The virus causes huge losses among Asian seabass farmers every year, as well as threatening barramundi producers, it said.

SDDV is endemic in Southeast Asia, causing fish to shed scales and develop skin lesions, resulting in mortality rates up to 70% among both young and adult fish.

The epitope-based vaccine developed by UVAXX will strengthen fish's natural defences against the virus, it said. The company said the vaccine has an efficacy rate of 75% and will represent the first commercially available product to defend against SDDV.

"Through our 12 years of experience working with farmers to provide veterinary services and fish health solutions, we have witnessed first-hand the severity and devastation caused by SDDV," said Sunita Awate, research director at UVAXX.

"Asian seabass farmers across the region need and want a solution. Having an efficacious SDDV vaccine can lead to a paradigm shift in aquaculture disease management, from a reactive to preventative approach, and transform farm production unit economics," she added.

According to scientists with A*STAR, the epitope-based approach of the new product differs from traditional fish vaccines, as it targets the specific part of the immune system that neutralizes viral particles, such as antibodies and killer cells that directly eliminate infected cells.

"In many ways, this epitope-based vaccine design is novel for the aquaculture sector, and we are energized and committed to identifying more use cases of this technology together with UVAXX," said Renia Stephane, senior fellow at A*STAR.

The vaccine will still have to undergo further commercial-scale trials with local partners, while developing a manufacturing process and securing regulatory approval are the next steps on the agenda, UVAXX said.

New vaccine a relief for Barramundi

The announcement of the vaccine's successful development will come as a relief for Barramundi Group, which announced last year that previous field trials at its sites in Singapore had been "inconclusive."

Accordingly, the company announced in its annual report for 2022 that it had decided to put a hold on stockings in its Singapore farm sites until an efficacious vaccine for SDDV became available, for animal welfare reasons.

This, in turn, has led the company to focus growth exclusively at its Brunei production sites over the past year.

Barramundi had also owned Australian barramundi producer Marine Produce Australia, but these farms were sold to Cooke-owned Tassal Group last August after temporarily going into voluntary administration earlier in the year.