GCRF Biopharma team members from BIOTEC and the University of Kent recently participated in a workshop on new approaches and new collaborations in vaccine development in South East Asia, held at the beautiful historic campus of Vietnam National University (VNU) in Hanoi. The animal vaccines workshop was organised by Prof. Colin Robinson and was part of a larger meeting entitled “Building a resilient research environment in South East Asia”, organised by the University of Kent.
Researchers from Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Taiwan and the UK attended the workshop to present their work, exchange ideas and build future collaborations. A presentation by Ian Dacre from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN gave an overview of animal vaccine use and future requirements in SE Asia, while talks from researchers ranged in topic from vaccines against porcine viruses to the use of RNAi technology to protect against viruses in shrimp, and vaccine alternatives to the use of antibiotics in aquaculture.
The visit to Hanoi enabled us to make valuable new connections with stakeholders in animal vaccines and biopharmaceuticals in Vietnam. After the workshop, the GCRF team held meetings with Dr Hoang Dang and his team at the National Institute of Veterinary Research, Vietnam, who work on developing animal vaccines for several diseases that affect the Vietnamese farming industry. A meeting was also held with scientists at Vabiotech, who currently produce several vaccines for use in humans as part of Vietnam’s national vaccination scheme. Extending the reach of this GCRF project beyond Thailand is important in achieving the maximum possible impact of our research in the region, and visits such as this one are invaluable in extending our network of collaborators.