Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Antigen – epitope – or other immunospecific immunoeffector – Virus or component thereof
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-19
2003-12-09
Housel, James (Department: 1648)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Antigen, epitope, or other immunospecific immunoeffector
Virus or component thereof
C424S093100, C424S278100, C424S281100, C435S235100, C435S236000, C435S237000, C435S238000, C435S239000, C536S023720
Reexamination Certificate
active
06660272
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to new porcine circovirus (PCV for Porcine CircoVirus) strains responsible for the PMWS syndrome (Porcine Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome also called Post-weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome) to reagents and methods allowing their detection, to methods of vaccination and to vaccines, as well as to methods of producing these reagents and vaccines.
PCV was originally detected as a noncytopathogenic contaminant in pig kidney cell lines PK/15. This virus was classified among the Circoviridae with the chicken anaemia virus (CAV for Chicken Anaemia Virus) and the PBFDV virus (Pscittacine Beak and Feather Disease Virus). It is a small nonenveloped virus (from 15 to 24 nm) whose common characteristic is to contain a genome in the form of a circular single-stranded DNA of 1.76 to 2.31 kb. It was first thought that this genome encoded a polypeptide of about 30 kDa (Todd et al., Arch Virol 1991, 117; 129-135). Recent work has however shown a more complex transcription (Meehan B. M. et al., 1997, 78; 221-227). Moreover, no significant homologies in nucleotide sequence or in common antigenic determinants are known between the three types of circoviruses known.
The PCV derived from the PK/15 cells is considered not to be pathogenic. Its sequence is known from B. M. Meehan et al., J. Gen. Virol 1997 (78) 221-227. It is only very recently that some authors have thought that strains of PCV could be pathogenic and associated with the PMWS syndrome (Gupi P. S. Nayar et al., Can. Vet. J, vol. 38, 1997: 385-387 and Clark E. G., Proc. Am. Assoc. Swine Prac. 1997; 499-501). Nayar et al. have detected PCV DNA in pigs having the PMWS syndrome using PCR techniques. No wild-type PCV strain has however been isolated and purified so far.
The PMWS syndrome detected in Canada, the United States and France is clinically characterized by a gradual loss of weight and by manifestations such as tachypnea, dyspnea and jaundice. From the pathological point of view, it is manifested by lymphocytic or granulomateus infiltrations, lymphadenopathies and, more rarely, by hepatitis and lymphocytic or granulomateus nephritis (Clark E. G., Proc. Am. Assoc. Swine Prac. 1997; 499-501; La Semaine Vétérinaire No. 26, supplement to La Semaine Vétérinaire 1996 (834); La Semaine Vétérinaire 1997 (857): 54; Gupi P. S. Nayar et al., Can. Vet. J, vol. 38, 1997; 385-387).
The applicant has succeeded in isolating five new PCV strains from pulmonary or ganglionic samples obtained from farms situated in Canada, the United States (California) and France (Brittany), hereinafter called circoviruses according to the invention. These viruses have been detected in lesions in pigs with the PMWS syndrome, but not in healthy pigs.
The applicant has, in addition, sequenced the genome of four of these strains, namely the strains obtained from Canada and the United States as well as two French strains. The strains exhibit a very strong homology with each other at the nucleotide level, exceeding 96% and much weaker with the PK/15 strain, about 76%. The new strains can thus be considered as being representative of a new type of porcine circovirus, called here type II, type I being represented by PK/15.
The subject of the present invention is therefore the group II porcine circovirus, as defined above, isolated or in the form of a purified preparation.
The invention relates to any porcine circovirus capable of being isolated from a physiological sample or from a tissue sample, especially lesions, from a diseased pig having the PMWS syndrome, especially following the method described in the examples, in particular type II circovirus.
The subject of the present invention is more particularly purified preparations of five strains, which were deposited at the ECACC (European Collection of Cell Cultures, Centre for Applied Microbiology & Research, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP40JG, United Kingdom) on Thursday Oct. 2, 1997:
accession No. V97100219 (called here Imp. 1008PCV)
accession No. V9700218 (called here Imp. 1010PCV)
accession No. V97100217 (called here Imp. 999PCV),
and, on Friday Jan. 16, 1998:
accession No. V98011608 (called here Imp. 1011-48285)
accession No. V98011609 (called here Imp. 1011-48121).
The invention aims to consider the porcine circoviruses isolated from a diseased pig and/or the circoviruses having a significant serological similarity with the strains of the invention and/or the circoviruses having cross-hybridization with the strains of the invention under stringency conditions such that there is no hybridization with the PCV PK/15 strain.
The viral strains isolated from a physiological sample or from a tissue sample, especially a lesion, from a pig having the PMWS syndrome can be advantageously propagated on cell lines such as especially pig kidney cell lines, in particular PK/15 cells free from contamination (in particular for PCV, as well as for pestiviruses, porcine adenoviruses and porcine parvoviruses) for their multiplication or specifically for the production of antigen, whole (e.g. virus) and/or subunits (e.g. polypeptides).
Very remarkably and unexpectedly, these isolates have proved very productive in culture on PK/15 cells, which have undeniable advantages for the production of virus or antigen, in particular for the production of inactivated vaccine.
The subject of the present invention is also the preparations of circoviruses isolated after passages on cells, especially cell lines, e.g. PK/15 cells, cultured in vitro while being infected with at least one of the circoviruses according to the invention or of any porcine circovirus capable of being isolated form a physiological sample or from a tissue sample, especially lesions, from a pig having the PMWS syndrome. Its subject is also the culture extract or supernatant, optionally purified by standard techniques, and in general any antigenic preparation obtained from in vitro cultures.
The subject of the invention is also the immunogenic active ingredients and the vaccines containing at least one antigen as defined above.
They may be immunogenic active ingredients based on attenuated live whole viruses, or vaccines prepared with these active ingredients, the attenuation being carried out according to the customary methods, e.g. by passage on cells, preferably by passage on pig cells, especially lines, such as PK/15 cells (for example from 50 to 150, especially of the order of 100, passages). These vaccines comprise in general a vehicle or diluent acceptable from the veterinary point of view, optionally an adjuvant acceptable from the veterinary point of view, as well as optionally a freeze-drying stabilizer.
These vaccines will preferably comprise from 10
3
to 10
6
TCID50.
They may be immunogenic active ingredients or vaccines based on circovirus antigen according to the invention, in an inactivated state. The vaccine comprises, in addition, a vehicle or a diluent acceptable from the veterinary point of view, with optionally in addition an adjuvant acceptable from the veterinary point of view.
The circoviruses according to the invention, with the fractions which may be present, are inactivated according to techniques known to persons skilled in the art. The inactivation will be preferably carried out by the chemical route, e.g. by exposing the antigen to a chemical agent such as formaldehyde (formalin), paraformaldehyde, &bgr;-propiolactone or ethyleneimine or its derivatives. The preferred method of inactivation will be herein the exposure to a chemical agent and in particular to ethyleneimine or to &bgr;-propiolactone.
Preferably, the inactivated vaccines according to the invention will be supplemented with adjuvant, advantageously by being provided in the form of emulsions, for example water-in-oil or oil-in-water, according to techniques well known to persons skilled in the art. It will be possible for the adjuvant character to also come from the incorporation of a customary adjuvant compound into the active ingredient.
Among the adjuvants which may be used, there may be mentioned by way of example aluminium hydroxide, the
Allan Gordon
Chappuis Gilles Emile
Charreyre Catherine Elisabeth
Clark Edward
Ellis John
Foley Shanon A
Frommer William S.
Frommer & Lawrence & Haug LLP
Housel James
Kowalski Thomas J.
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