Porcine Circovirus remains in the spotlight of European researchers

Ingelheim, Germany, 16 February 2011 – The fourth edition of the European PCV2 Research Award sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim saw a record number of applications showing the continued interest in Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) research: 13 researchers from ten different countries submitted proposals.

Clinical disease associated with PCV2 infection is not a major issue nowadays as pigs can be protected very effectively by vaccination, and piglet vaccination has become routine use worldwide. Still, PCV2 remains to be a potential threat for global swine production and more research is needed to better understand the immunological aspects, the pathogenesis and epidemiology of this devastating disease, as well as the interaction of PCV2 with other potential pathogens.

It is Boehringer Ingelheim’s intention to continuously support independent applied research in this field. A maximum of three prizes, each 25,000 euros, are granted to European researchers every year. The 2010 awards were recently presented to the award winners by Prof. Maurice Pensaert, former head of the Laboratory of Virology of the Ghent University in Belgium and chairman of the independent review board selecting the awarded projects, and Dr Joachim Hasenmaier, Head of Animal Health at Boehringer Ingelheim. The ceremony took place at the global headquarters of Boehringer Ingelheim in Ingelheim, Germany.

Following projects were awarded in 2010:

• New approach to reproduce postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) (Prof. Hans Nauwynck, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium). Prof. Nauwynck will try to establish a new challenge model which would allow studying the pathogenesis of the disease in more detail.
• Effect of maternal derived immunity on porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection dynamics and production parameters in PCV2 vaccinated pigs (Prof. Joaquim Segalés, CReSA and Veterinary School of the Universitat Autònoma, Barcelona, Spain). In his project, Prof. Segales will compare the efficacy of PCV2 vaccination in pigs with low and high levels of maternally derived antibodies under field conditions.
• Influence of vaccination with PRRSV-MLV on the immune response against a PCV2 orf2 subunit vaccine (Prof. Armin Saalmüller, Institute of Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria). Prof. Saalmueller will investigate the interaction between PRRS and PCV2 vaccination.

European Porcine Circovirus (PCV2) Research Award
The European Porcine Circovirus (PCV2) Research Award is an annual award that recognizes research proposals in the area of applied immunological PCV2 research.

The award has an independent review board with leading European scientists in applied porcine research reviewing the entries and deciding upon the winning proposals.

How to apply
Applications for the next European PCV2 Research Award can be submitted by September 10, 2011. For more details please contact Maurice.pensaert@ugent.be or Petra.Maass@boehringer-ingelheim.com.

Boehringer Ingelheim - The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 142 affiliates in 50 countries and more than 41,500 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed for 125 Years to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.

In 2009, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of 12.7 billion euro while spending 21% of net sales in its largest business segment Prescription Medicines on research and development.