4 firms eye contract to supply PH with ASF vaccines

At least four companies have expressed interest to supply the Philippines with vaccines against African swine fever (ASF) that has brought down local supply of widely consumed pork, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Constante Palabrica said on Thursday these companies were based in the United States, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand and their applications to supply the country with badly needed ASF vaccines are being evaluated for safety and effectiveness.

READ: DA launches trial test of ASF vax in Batangas

“They conducted studies in their respective countries and we have seen some light in the results of their due diligence, that’s why we entertained their applications. We will go through the process of validating results of the experiment,” Palabrica said.

Palabrica did not provide a date as to when results of the evaluation will be released, but said the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and Food and Drug Administration were “very cautious” about approving the ASF vaccines because of concerns over whether they will actually work as well as the price.

Industry stakeholders had said that current ASF vaccines that cost from P400 to P600 per dose are too expensive for many hog raisers.

“We hope the price is not as high as previously announced last year. Hopefully, the vaccines will be affordable for all because it is not just commercial farms that will use them. We have medium-scale, small-scale and even backyard raisers,” National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. chair Chester Warren Tan said on Wednesday.

The agriculture official said the DA would consider providing subsidies to backyard raisers, depending on the availability of government funds as the agency is already spending billions of pesos on hog repopulation.

READ: DA: African swine fever vaccine finally available soon

Early this week, the DA met with around 150 farmers to explain the draft guidelines on the controlled use of ASF vaccines, which will be used for the first time.

Some 10,000 vaccines had been purchased from Vietnam to inoculate growers, starting with Lobo town in Batangas, ground zero on the latest resurgence of ASF.

The animal disease has infected 11 regions, 22 provinces and 66 municipalities, based on the BAI’s tally as of Aug. 8.