European Saphir Project: Developing New Vaccines for Cattle, Swine, and Poultry Farming

The Saphir (Strengthening Animal Production and Health through Immune Response) project is part of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research program. Its goal is to develop effective vaccination strategies against endemic pathogens that cause significant economic losses in cattle, swine, and poultry farms. It brings together the interdisciplinary expertise of fourteen research institutes, five SMEs, and two pharmaceutical companies from eleven European countries and China. The project’s total budget is 10.5 million euros, of which 9 million is funded by Brussels. For the various partners—both private and public, European and Chinese—the four-year project is now underway. The launch conference for the European Saphir project, coordinated by France through the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), took place in mid-May 2015 in Jouy-en-Josas. Working together through an integrated approach, scientists from various disciplines (veterinarians, geneticists, biologists, sociologists, economists, immunologists, epidemiologists, etc.) will tackle two representative pathogens or diseases per sector—for which no vaccine exists or existing vaccines are ineffective in the field—with the goal of developing a generic vaccine:

• for cattle farming, the research will focus on bovine respiratory syncytial virus and Mycoplasma bovis,
• for swine farming, on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae,
• for poultry farming, on Eimeria sp. and Clostridium perfringens.

The overall goal is to strengthen the viability, sustainability, and profitability of animal production systems, improve animal welfare, and reduce the use of xenobiotics in agriculture from a “One Health” perspective. To this end, the objectives have been divided into three categories: - scientific : These involve deciphering the mechanisms of immune protection, understanding the genetic basis of host responses to vaccination, optimizing formulations, and developing effective adjuvants that target dendritic cells, inducing immunity in the mucous membranes and skin, and developing a new generation of DNA vectors and viral replicon platforms to promote faster and longer-lasting immunity, including during the perinatal period; - Technological : it is necessary to apply in vivo and ex vivo systems to develop effective, safe, and multivalent vaccines that are easy to use and enable the epidemiological control of diseases, as well as to identify biomarkers of immunocompetence for future selection in livestock breeding ; - Socioeconomic : It is necessary to assess the impact of the diseases targeted by the project on livestock operations and at the national level, understand the use and acceptability of new vaccines, and then communicate about integrated health strategies that combine vaccination with complementary management measures . The Saphir training program includes the creation of a website for integrated animal health management*, the launch of a Global Alliance for Veterinary Vaccines, and the organization of workshops for stakeholders in the animal-based food chain. This will ensure that Saphir’s innovations are translated into concrete applications for both the market and on the ground. * http://www.h2020-saphir.eu/  

The 22 partners of the European Saphir project (2015–2019)

> French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) (France) > INRA Transfert SA (France) > Virbac SA (France) > Cardiff University (United Kingdom) > Pirbright Institute (United Kingdom) > Royal Veterinary College (United Kingdom) > Sporegen Limited (United Kingdom) > University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom) > Xeolas Pharmaceuticals Limited (Ireland) > Ghent University (Belgium) > University of Bern (Switzerland) > University of Lausanne (Switzerland) > Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs (Switzerland) > European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders (Netherlands) > Stichting Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek (Netherlands) > Intervet International (Netherlands) > Parco Tecnologico Padano SRL (Italy) > Inmunologia y Genetica Aplicada SA (Spain) > Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute - Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (China) > Statens Veterinaermedicinska Anstalt (Sweden) > Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (Sweden) > Vaccibody AS (Norway) > Szkola Glowna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego (Poland)