Merck Animal Health Introduces SEQUIVITY™ Technology
Provides swine producers disease specific vaccines to protect herd health
MADISON, N.J., June 6, 2018 – Merck Animal Health, a global leader in vaccine development, is excited to deliver SEQUIVITY™ Technology. This innovative and highly advanced RNA Particle Technology is used to create flexible, safe and precise vaccine solutions to new and evolving disease challenges.
Vaccination is essential to disease prevention and has been key to protecting animal health. SEQUIVITY represents a technological advance within the company’s existing vaccine portfolio, with a platform that uses genetic sequences for specific antigens found in disease producing pathogens. This allows the creation of vaccines as needed in response to new or progressing diseases.
“By producing herd-specific custom vaccines, the technology enables producers and veterinarians to tackle animal health issues quickly and safely,” says Joe Roder, D.V.M., technical services manager, Merck Animal Health. “Since diseases differ around the world, the technology allows us to diagnose specific disease risks and take a targeted approach to disease control, depending on the exact needs of the country or region.”
In addition to being able to customize vaccines to meet specific threats, the SEQUIVITY platform technology can be used to provide a solution in a short period of time, where traditional vaccines can take years to develop.
How it Works: RNA Particle Technology
Vaccination mimics infection by introducing inactivated whole pathogens (antigens) into the animal to stimulate the immune system. For a conventional vaccine, the antigen is grown in the lab, deactivated or killed and then presented to the body. However, with SEQUIVITY and its revolutionary RNA Particle Technology, an electronic gene sequence is utilized.
After receiving the sequence, it is synthesized into RNA and inserted into the SEQUIVITY platform, which generates RNA particles. When injected in the animal, these particles provide instructions to the immune cells to translate the sequence into proteins which act as antigens.
Then, when challenged with an actual live pathogen, the animal’s immune system recognizes the antigen and a targeted immune response is triggered.
To learn more about SEQUIVITY and to find answers to your advanced herd health challenges, visit www.SEQUIVITY.com or contact your local Merck sales representative.
About Merck Animal Health
For more than a century, Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside the United States and Canada, is the global animal health business unit of Merck. Through its commitment to the Science of Healthier Animals™, Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services. Merck Animal Health is dedicated to preserving and improving the health, wellbeing and performance of animals. It invests extensively in dynamic and comprehensive R&D resources and a modern, global supply chain. Merck Animal Health is present in more than 50 countries, while its products are available in some 150 markets. For more information, visit www.merck-animal-health.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter at @MerckAH.
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