CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Tiba Biotech LLC, a leader in next-generation RNA medicines for human and animal health, today announced a multi-year collaboration with The Pirbright Institute’s Centre for Veterinary Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing (CVIM) to accelerate the development of next-generation RNA vaccines targeting high-impact livestock diseases.
The collaboration is supported by funding from the Gates Foundation, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). This initiative is part of a broader effort to strengthen global vaccine innovation capacity, leveraging leading research at Pirbright alongside advanced manufacturing infrastructure at CVIM. Professor Bryan Charleston MRCVS FRS, Director and CEO of The Pirbright Institute, said: “We are excited to partner with Tiba Biotech on this important initiative which allows us to explore the full potential of RNA vaccine technologies for livestock diseases and aligns with our mission to improve global animal health and food security.”
We are excited to partner with Tiba Biotech on this important initiative which allows us to explore the full potential of RNA vaccine technologies for livestock diseases and aligns with our mission to improve global animal health and food security.
— Professor Bryan Charleston MRCVS FRS, Director and CEO of The Pirbright Institute.
The joint project will initially focus on molecular characterization of an RNA-based vaccine candidate for foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) developed using Tiba’s proprietary RNABL™ delivery platform. This vaccine was previously shown to confer complete protection against challenge infection in cattle. In parallel, the collaboration will explore the application of Tiba’s RNABL platform against other livestock vaccine targets.
“This collaboration represents a major step forward in applying RNA technology to global animal health challenges,” said Dr. Jasdave Chahal, Chief Scientific Officer of Tiba Biotech. “By combining our delivery platform with Pirbright’s world-class expertise in livestock virology, we aim to unlock scalable, effective vaccine solutions that can be rapidly deployed where they are needed most.” Together, the teams will characterize antigen expression and evaluate immunogenicity across multiple RNA vaccine formats, including self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA), with the goal of identifying lead candidates for further development in livestock species such as cattle, swine, and sheep.
This collaboration represents a major step forward in applying RNA technology to global animal health challenges. By combining our delivery platform with Pirbright’s world-class expertise in livestock virology, we aim to unlock scalable, effective vaccine solutions that can be rapidly deployed where they are needed most.
— Dr. Jasdave Chahal, Chief Scientific Officer of Tiba Biotech
A central goal of the collaboration is to enable affordable and scalable vaccine solutions for livestock in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), supporting global efforts to improve food security and economic resilience. The technologies and manufacturing approaches developed through this partnership are also expected to have broad applicability in higher-income markets, where there is increasing demand for rapid-response, cost-efficient, and scalable vaccine platforms. Dr Julian Seago, CVIM Process Development and Facility Lead, said: “CVIM’s expertise covers mRNA and saRNA design, helping collaborators develop high-quality, cost-effective vaccines within our new GMP facility, which opens later this year.”
CVIM’s expertise covers mRNA and saRNA design, helping collaborators develop high-quality, cost-effective vaccines within our new GMP facility, which opens later this year.
— Dr Julian Seago, CVIM Process Development and Facility Lead.
This unique public–private global initiative builds on ongoing collaborations with Australia’s Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute (EMAI), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and Germany’s Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI). The FMD vaccine development was supported by the the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), building on earlier work funded through the Livestock Vaccine Innovation Fund (LVIF), a Gates Foundation program managed by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada.
For more background on the history of Tiba’s FMD vaccine initiative see earlier media coverage and a press release highlighting the results of a successful challenge trial.
***
About Tiba Biotech
Tiba Biotech is a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation RNA vaccines and therapeutics based on a novel dendrimer nanoparticle delivery platform, initially developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Tiba Biotech’s nanoparticle delivery platform can safely enable large vaccine and therapeutic payloads with relaxed cold-chain requirements and superior safety compared to existing RNA delivery technologies, providing protection against multiple human and animal diseases. For more information about Tiba Biotech, visit www.tiba.bio, follow us on X (formally Twitter) @TibaBiotech and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Peter McGrath
info@tiba.bio
