WorldPoultry: French company sells 100m doses of AI-vaccine to the US

Oct 23, 2015 
The French animal health company Ceva Santé Animal, located in Libourne in the south-west of the country, has received an order for 100 million doses of its anti avian influenza vaccine Vectormune AI from the Animal and Phytosanitaire Inspection APHIS of the US Department of Agriculture USDA.

The US-authorities want to have a sufficient quantity of the vaccine in stock in case of a new epidemic after the recent massive outbreak of AI which lead to the destruction of some 50 million birds and 500 million dollar of economic damage.

''This helps us to further strengthen our position on the international stage and puts us in second place as a poultry vaccine producer,'' Marc Prikasky, chairman of Ceva Santé Animal says.

Ceva Santé Animal employs some 3,750 people, of which 300 in research, and is present in 110 countries. The company realised a turnover of €766 million in 2014 and currently invests some €70 million annually in research. ''I've proposed to the board to accelerate those investments in order to be more reactive on the market,'' Prikasky says.
Ruud Peys