Aquilón registers in Europe a test for diagnosis of swine brucellosis without false positives

LEÓN, Spain - Sept. 7, 2021 - PRLog -- Aquilón filed  the registration before the European Medicines Agency on August 12, through the centralized procedure. Brucellin Aquilón is the first immunological test for intradermal application for the diagnosis of brucellosis in pigs that reduces the number of false positives and its economic consequences.

Aquilón (www.aquiloncyl.com), a spin-off company from the University of León, in Spain, licensed the technology from the University of Navarra and the Center for Research and Agrifood Technology of Aragón (CITA) in 2015.  Manufacturing on an industrial scale has been possible thanks to close collaboration with CZ Veterinaria, from the Zendal group in Pontevedra, Spain.

Brucellosis affects the reproduction of cows,pigs and other livestock animals. It can be transmitted to humans and cause the intermittent fevers, joint pain and other symptoms, known as Malta Fevers.It is of mandatory notification, being the serological diagnosis a key element of disease eradication programs throughout the world based on selective slaughtering of infected animals.

Current serological diagnostic methods give false positive results in up to 15% of the tests performed. These false positives in pigs are due to cross-reactions with other non-pathogenic bacteria, which are frequently present on farms, and generate heavy economic losses due to mandatory slaughtering of presumptively infected serologically positive animals that are frequently breeding animals of high genetic value.

Professor José María Blasco, a world-renowned brucellosis specialist and honorary researcher at CITA, affirms that Aquilón's product fulfills a great need in the diagnosis of porcine brucellosis, and is confident that his interest will soon be recognized by the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE). Ignacio Moriyón, Professor at the University of Navarra (where the genetically modified strain of Brucella that allowed the product to be developed was obtained ) does not hide his satisfaction at seeing many years of research transformed into a registration that , if approved, will have a certain impact on the management of swine brucellosis worldwide.

For Luis Ruiz Ávila, Director of Aquilón, the project is a clear example of how the generation of knowledge in academic environments can be brought to the market thanks to close collaboration with small companies with a spin-off profile, capable of achieving major milestones with small and focused teams, supported by key suppliers and commited investors.

If approved, the product will be exploited by Aquilón and part of the profits will revert to the institutions of origin (the University of Navarra and the CITA of Aragón).