Zhejiang University's Triple-Inactivated Swine Vaccine Secures Commercialization License: A $420K Initial Payment to Tap into a Billion-Dollar Diarrhea Market

Image from the official website of Zhejiang University

Recently, Zhejiang University released a public notice on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, proposing to authorize and transform the patents related to the "Inactivated Triple Vaccine against Porcine Transmissible Gastroenteritis, Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, and Porcine Deltacoronavirus (SHXB Strain + ZJ/15 Strain + LYG/14 Strain)" through general licensing.Total Amount: RMB 3 million (including an initial payment of RMB 900,000 + milestone payments of RMB 2.1 million). The patent is jointly owned by Zhejiang University, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Zhejiang Hongsheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd., with the inventors being the team led by Li Xiaoliang.

This is no ordinary swine vaccine—it is currentlyThe World's FirstA triple-inactivated vaccine covering TGEV, PEDV, and PDCoV has just been approved for market launch and is currently seeking a successor for industrialization.

Transmissible Gastroenteritis (TGE), Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), and Porcine Deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) are the three major “killers” that cause severe diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration in piglets, leading to high mortality rates. Outbreaks peak during the winter and spring seasons each year, making mass mortality a common occurrence.

However, the current prevention and control system has three obvious gaps:

Coverage Gap:No triple inactivated vaccines targeting TGEV, PEDV, and PDCoV are currently available on the market either domestically or internationally. The market is dominated by bivalent vaccines, with no commercially available vaccine for PDCoV having been offered for an extended period, making “gaps in protection” a widespread phenomenon.

Process Gap:Traditional roller bottle processes yield low antigen content and poor batch-to-batch consistency; oil-adjuvanted products exhibit poor syringeability and cause significant stress in piglets. Most swine farms still rely on suboptimal vaccines that merely provide inadequate protection.

Benefit Gap:Multiple doses of various vaccines are required, resulting in complex immunization schedules and high costs for both labor and vaccines, while protection remains insufficient in cases of co-infection.

One-sentence summary:It’s not that livestock farmers are unwilling to implement preventive measures; rather, there is no effective product available that enables them to do so successfully.

Zhejiang Hongsheng Biotechnology, in collaboration with the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Tianmu Laboratory in Xinchang County, has developed a full-chain solution spanning from strain screening to large-scale production, with three core breakthroughs addressing three major industry pain points.

Step 1: Precise Strain Matching

Three prevalent strains—porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) SHXB strain, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) ZJ/15 strain, and porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) LYG/14 strain—are all derived from dominant circulating wild-type viruses in China and exhibit high homology. The formulation ratio is 1:5:3, with post-immunization antibody titers reaching 1:32–1:128. Challenge tests demonstrated complete protection in 5/5 vaccinated animals, whereas all 5/5 control animals developed the disease.

Step 2: Fully Suspended Serum-Free Production

Core technology adopts ST’s fully suspended cell serum-free culture system, disrupting traditional roller bottle processes:

• TGEV titer ≥10⁸·⁵ TCID₅₀/ml, PEDV and PDCoV both ≥10⁷·⁵ TCID₅₀/ml, far exceeding conventional products

• 200 L Bioreactor Scale-up: Stable and Controllable Batch Process

• Low-temperature inactivation with β-propiolactone preserves immunogenicity and eliminates the risk of viral shedding.

Step 3: Aqueous Adjuvant “One Shot, Triple Protection”

Replaces traditional oil-based adjuvants with GEL01 aqueous adjuvant—piglets exhibit no redness, swelling, or ulceration at the injection site, maintain normal body temperature and appetite, and demonstrate significantly improved safety. The formulation has excellent syringeability, rapidly induces high levels of neutralizing antibodies, and is effective against both single and mixed infections.

One Shot, Triple Protection: Simultaneous Prevention of Three Viruses, Fewer Immunizations, Lower CostsDecrease. This is currently other listed companies domestically and internationallySomething that even products cannot achieve.

Current competition in the porcine diarrhea vaccine market is concentrated along three technological pathways:

Triple-inactivated vaccines containing PDCoV remain a gap in the domestic market, with very few approved products available. This patent offers differentiated advantages in strain matching, process sophistication (suspension culture vs. roller bottle), and ease of use (aqueous vs. oil-based), resulting in relatively limited competitive pressure in this niche.