Vaxxinova brings coccidiosis vaccine to growing number of international markets

Nijmegen, Netherlands, April 19 2024: Vaxxinova is commmitted in providing poultry producers worldwide with solutions to keep their flocks healthy. One of the tools are vaccines to prevent coccidiosis. We are proud to share the article below by Joseph Harvey as published on S&P Global in April 18, 2024.

Vaxxinova is ramping up sales of its Vaxxon Coccivet brand by introducing the vaccines to multiple new markets. S&P Global’s head of animal health Joseph Harvey spoke to the Vaxxinova team about the rollout of its poultry coccidiosis vaccines and how the company is aiming to take more of a worldwide market share.

Vaxxinova is currently focused on creating an even stronger name for itself in the coccidiosis vaccination market with two products. The firm’s Vaxxon Coccivet is for broiler chickens, while Vaxxon Coccivet R is for breeders, layers and long-living birds. Vaxxinova bought the coccidiosis vaccines through its 2018 purchase of Brazilian firm Laboratório Biovet.

At the time of the acquisition, Vaxxon Coccivet R had become a market leader in Brazil. The product quickly secured between 80-90% market share. This commercial performance has been reproduced more recently in newer markets throughout Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Vaxxon Coccivet R has been registered in over 15 markets with more approvals expected over the coming year.

The company told S&P Global Animal Health: “The vaccine is currently taking high volumes of market share in several markets. We realized it is one of the jewels of the company and we want to expand and take it to a global market. We’ve started to do this with Vaxxon Coccivet R because vaccination ratios for breeders and layers were already high.”

The broiler version of the vaccine had been developed by the time Vaxxinova bought Biovet but sales were limited. This was due to the prominence of ionophore treatment for broilers at that time. However, Vaxxinova has noted a growing trend towards coccidiosis vaccination for broilers over the last few years and the second wave of launches for its coccidiosis vaccine portfolio will see the company target the broiler market.

The latest new market for the broiler version of Vaxxon Coccivet is Vietnam, where it is subject to an exclusive distribution partnership with local business Agriviet. The distribution will be supported by a domestic Vaxxinova team as part of a parallel promotion strategy.

The business has three approaches to product commercialization. It either launches vaccines through its own teams in markets where it has an established presence (the US or Brazil), utilizes local distributors or it employs a parallel approach. Vaxxinova pointed out the third option is a more recent addition to its strategy.

Avian coccidiosis is a prevalent intestinal disease that is found worldwide. Vaxxinova noted it significantly impacts the performance and productivity of domestic livestock. The economic impact of the disease is significant, with the annual financial loss in the global poultry industry as a result of coccidiosis estimated to be over $14 billion. These costs include disease control and treatment, mortality, lower average daily weight gain and a decline in feed conversion.

Making Vaxxinova competitive

Vaxxinova said it soon realized the Biovet coccidiosis portfolio featured vaccines that could differentiate the business from Big Pharma players in the animal health industry. While the company acknowledged it cannot compete on a grand scale with the multi-billion-dollar corporations, it can prove to be a stand-out name in the food animal vaccine segment. Over recent years, several of the major businesses have been favoring innovation in the companion animal area – leaving room for other firms to maneuver in the production animal space. Vaxxinova said it can thrive in areas such as coccidiosis vaccines, where it has “a seat at the table to compete”.

Vaxxinova pointed out vaccine sales tend to only increase in line with the growth rate of the poultry population within each country. However, among broilers, there is a particularly low vaccination rate that is expected to grow rapidly over the next years. The company is targeting this area as a way of capturing added market potential.

The firm’s Vaxxon Coccivet R is performing well due to its ability to protect against multiple strains of coccidiosis, including all predominant strains in the field. This was a key aspect to the positive performance of the product in Brazil.

The company said early uptake has shown Vaxxon Coccivet R is replicating its success in Brazil in other markets. It suggested the biggest challenge has been keeping up with demand. To satisfy requirement for its coccidiosis vaccines, the company is building further production capacity in Brazil. It has invested in a new factory – next to its existing manufacturing site in São Paulo state – that will start production next month. The new facility is specifically for the manufacture of coccidiosis vaccines and will aim to supply the newly registered markets.

It is an underlying principle of Vaxxinova’s growth strategy to take successful vaccines within its portfolio to a wider global customer basis. The business has been employing this model across some of its recent acquisitions, while making sure its subsidiaries maintain their local teams and culture. Vaxxinova noted there will be more vaccines from the Biovet portfolio coming to new international markets soon.

Other notable recent acquisitions made by Vaxxinova include deals for Newport Laboratories (an autogenous vaccine business located in the US bought in 2021) and Epitopix (a US food animal vaccine specialist purchased in 2018).

Vaxxinova is focusing on both licensed and autogenous vaccines (for which it is a market leader) that support the poultry and aquaculture industries globally and species like swine and cattle in the major markets.

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