SBIR-STTR Award

The purpose of this project is to produce an efficacious, safe and cost-effective killed IHN virus vaccine to decrease or eliminate IHN disease in farmed salmon and trout, APPROACH: The IHN virus vaccine will be developed using IHN virus inactivation conditions that ensure retention of IHN virus G protein epitopes while concomitantly abolishing virus infectivity. The parameters will be established using G protein-specific neutralizing monoclonal antibodies and IHN virus-specific rainbow trout antibodies by indirect and competitive ELISA and Western blot analyses of inactivated virus. The viability of the virus will be measured using cell culture. The efficacy of the various inactivated IHN virus vaccines will be tested using rainbow trout. These steps are the first and most critical in the development of a killed IHN virus vaccine. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: IHN disease in farmed salmon and trout exerts a negative impact on the productivity and profitability of the aquaculture industry. The purpose of this project is to produce an efficacious, safe and cost-effective killed IHN virus vaccine. The vaccine would decrease or eliminate IHN disease in farmed salmon and trout, thereby increasing the productivity and profitability of the aquaculture industry. The vaccine would also reduce the risk of IHN virus transmission between wild and farmed animals and the potential for amplification of IHN virus on farm sites. Maine BioTek, Inc. anticipates that the Phase I investigation will establish one or two methods of IHN virus vaccine manufacture resulting in a highly antigenic preparation of vaccine free of residual infectious virus. The methods will be used to develop a commercially available IHN virus vaccine. The vaccine will be marketed, sold and distributed to the salmon and trout aquaculture industry and Federal, State, and Tribal hatcheries.

Keywords:
ihn virus; inactivated; vaccine; neutralizating epitopes; efficacy; aquaculture

The salmon and to a lesser extent the trout aquaculture industries in North America consider infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus a major threat to the current and future economic viability and sustainable growth of the industry. As such, development of an efficacious IHN virus vaccine has been identified as top priority of both government and industry organizations in the United States and Canada. The ultimate goal of this project (Phase I-III) is to develop a vaccine for the control of infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) disease of salmon and trout. The specific technical goal and deliverable product of the Phase II project is a pre-commercial IHN virus vaccine prototype. The work plan will address five primary topics related to vaccine performance: vaccine (1) preparation, (2) formulation, (3) potency, (4) safety and (5) efficacy.