Quick Takeaways:
- ECO Animal Health has signed a perpetual exclusive global licence agreement with Vaxinano for its late-stage sheep vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis, covering all key sheep-rearing markets. The technology is protected by patents and targets reproductive losses caused by Toxoplasma gondii.
- The vaccine is designed to prevent abortion, stillbirth and weak lamb births associated with toxoplasmosis, which can cause significant economic losses for sheep producers. ECO will complete development and commercialize the vaccine, leveraging its existing regulatory, commercial and distribution infrastructure.
- ECO will pay a modest upfront fee, a future development milestone and royalties on commercial sales, with investment funded through existing operating cash flow and R&D budgets. Peak annual sales are estimated at ~£10M in the UK and Europe alone, while the programme strengthens ECO’s growing livestock vaccine portfolio following the EU launch of Ecovaxxin MS in Jul 2026.
Why It Matters?
ECO’s licence of Vaxinano’s late‑stage sheep toxoplasmosis vaccine gives it a low‑cost, de‑risked way to add a high‑value preventative product that directly tackles a major cause of abortion and lamb losses, with peak sales estimated around £10 million in the UK and Europe alone. Because ECO can use its existing regulatory, sales and distribution setup and fund the deal from operating cash flow, the move strengthens its shift toward vaccines and preventative livestock health (after the EU launch of Ecovaxxin MS) and could open the door to more in‑licences in sheep and other species.
Source: ECO Animal Health
