Our research demonstrates that antibodies and passive immunity can control infectious diseases by reducing symptoms, stopping virus shedding and improving economic performances.

Vaccination has long been considered the gold standard to protect animals against infectious diseases. A growing body of research, however, shows that vaccines don’t always meet farmer needs

LIMITS OF VACCINATION

-          Immunization is only effective 3 to 4 weeks after vaccine injection.  During this extended period of time, the herd is vulnerable to infection because young animals are no longer protected by maternal antibodies and not yet protected by the vaccine.

-          Vaccines rely upon the complex cascade reaction of an animal’s immune system against viruses and other infectious agents. Unfortunately, currently-available vaccines typically provide between 50 and 70% protection for any given disease, which leaves 30-50% of the herd unprotected and at risk of disease spreading to other animals.

-          Vaccines do not always protect against all virus strains; when viruses mutate frequently or multiple strains exist in the herd at once, vaccines are not adequate protection alone.

-          Vaccines are preventative interventions and do not treat the disease nor reduce its symptoms once declared.  Once the disease circulates among animals, economic losses are difficult to avoid.

-          Vaccination usually requires two or more injections to be fully effective.  Farmers must invest the time and resources to administer multiple doses and keep track of individual animals to complete the vaccine schedule, both of which are burdensome and expensive.

-          It is often difficult to combine several vaccines together in the same injection to build combination vaccines because of the risk of interference between the different viruses.

THE POWER OF ANTIBODIES

-          Immediate protection against viruses, which is of particular importance for young animals at or just after weaning.  This immediate effect significantly reduces the risk of disease spread and economic losses.

-          Antibodies provide total protection against viruses because the efficacy of the antibody does not depend upon each animal’s unique immune system. It offers the same level of protection to all individuals in the same group.

-          Antibodies only need to be administered once per animal, offering protection for the entire life of most production animals (pigs, feedlot cattle, chicken).

-          Combining several antibodies in the same syringe is straightforward and is not impeded by the risk of interference, which allows farmers to administer fewer injections to each animal.

-          Antibodies are able to treat infectious diseases, reduce symptoms immediately, and lower direct economic losses in the farm that result from these infections.

-          Antibodies reduce virus shedding which is a critical element to prevent a wide dissemination of viruses and dramatically lowers the economic losses and the risks of pandemics or zoonosis.

-          Antibodies are designed to protect against multiple virus strains, making them the treatment of choice for diseases with multiple variants