PH screening new bird flu, ASF vaccine applicants

MANILA  -More foreign companies are interested to provide vaccines against bird flu and African swine fever (ASF) to curb the spread of animal diseases in the Philippines, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Monday.

Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Victor Savellano said the agency had received four applications to bring in ASF vaccine.

A separate document from the DA showed there were seven applications for avian influenza (AI) vaccine. So far, the DA has asked the Food and Drug Administration to issue a special import permit for three applicants.

The DA is finalizing the memorandum of agreement with the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the stakeholders for the conduct of vaccine trial.

For the first vaccine applicant, phase 1 trial was concluded in May and phase 2 testing is ongoing at three trial farms in Padre Garcia in Batangas, Lucena City in Quezon and Masiqui in Pangasinan.

The BAI has yet to receive the complete requisite document from the second applicant.

Savellano said the DA was streamlining the application process for veterinary feeds, drugs and biological products, including vaccines.

“For both the AI and ASF vaccines, we want to do it fast but we want to do it safe also. This is a balancing act but we are streamlining the process to expedite trials, approvals and their eventual use,” Savellano said in a speech.

The DA will submit to President Marcos, concurrently the agriculture secretary, the regulatory documents for his signature.

“AI vaccines have been around for a long time now but there is no approved protocol for its testing, approval and use,” he said.

The agriculture official also said the Philippines was overcoming the challenges of ASF “like an insurgency war – farm by farm, sitio by sitio, barangay by barangay, municipality by municipality and province by province.”

Separately, agriculture groups welcomed the House of Representatives’ plan to allocate P1.5 billion to vaccinate hogs to put an end to the ASF, which has severely affected the swine industry since 2019.