Boehringer Ingelheim to launch BVD vaccine Bovela in Europe

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced the European launch of Bovela, a new vaccine for the protection of cattle against bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD).

The product was approved by the European Medicines Agency last December and is the first and only vaccine in the EU for use in the active immunisation of cattle against both genotypes of the virus.

It is able to reduce clinical signs of the disease and prevent the birth of persistently infected (PI) animals caused by transplacental infection. This is important, as PI animals are considered the main reason why this disease is still perpetuated.

BVD is one of the major cattle diseases with worldwide distribution, and can economically impact cattle farmers due to decreased weight gain, reduced milk production, reproductive losses or the death of infected animals.

Dr Joachim Hasenmaier, responsible for the corporate board divisions for animal health and consumer healthcare at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "We are proud to provide this new and convenient tool that will help veterinarians and farmers enormously to protect cattle against BVD."

The European launch of the vaccine precedes plans for a wider global rollout of the product in the coming years.