ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIBA), Chennai signed a partnership agreement with Indian Immunologicals Limited, Hyderabad for the commercial development of CIBA vaccine “Nodavac-R” against viral nervous necrosis in finfishes at Chennai, on 29th August 2024.

Viral nervous necrosis (VNN) or Viral Encephalopathy and Retinopathy (VER) is an acute viral disease affecting several species of marine, brackishwater and freshwater fishes. The disease causes up to 100% mortality in larval and early juvenile stages. Adult fish when infected, is asymptomatic, but can transmit the virus to the offspring through eggs and gonadal fluids. ICAR-CIBA has developed a recombinant monovalent viral nervous necrosis vaccine for finfish, Asian Seabass which will be commercially produced in partnership with Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), a leading vaccine manufacturer in India.

On the occasion of signing the agreement Dr. Kuldeep K. Lal, Director, ICAR-CIBA said “viral nervous necrosis” is a major threat for finfish aquaculture, as the causative agent nervous necrosis virus, has a wide host range. The VNN vaccine developed by CIBA can prevent vertical transmission of the disease to the offsprings and prevent mortality in fingerlings. The vaccine can play a significant role in controlling the loss due to VNN in India and other Asian countries”.

Dr. M. Makesh, Principal Investigator of the project said that along with the vaccine, diagnostic assays to detect the virus and the immune response in fish have also been developed.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr K Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited said, that “IIL is the first in India to get into fish vaccines. We are covering different kind of fishes (fresh water, brackish water, etc.) and culture conditions (pond, cage culture, etc.) and are aware of the challenges associated with being the first, having been in similar situations for many other livestock vaccines. We are working at multiple fronts in defining pathways for commercial development of fish vaccines in India".

Dr.Priyabrata Pattnaik, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited added “IIL as a leading “One Health” organization is committed to developing vaccines for different fish pathogens with a long-term strategic objective of reducing use of antibiotics in aquaculture there by antimicrobial resistance in environment”.

India ranks second in world aquaculture production with 12.12 million tonnes. Aquaculture suffers economic losses due to bacterial, viral, fungal pathogens and parasites. Currently these infections are being managed by anti-infectives and other conventional measures with varying degree of success. With the rising concern pertaining on anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and chemical free food products both at global and domestic platforms, there is a growing need for better control measures against these infections. Currently there are no fish vaccines available in India on a commercial scale to prevent diseases in aquaculture.

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