Mongolia to launch first homegrown FMD vaccine doses in November
Mongolia's state-owned Biocombinat enterprise plans to release its first domestically produced doses of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine in November, as the country seeks to reduce its dependence on imported veterinary vaccines, Qazinform News Agency cites MONTSAME.
Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry Iderbat Tsagaankhuu instructed Biocombinat's management to accelerate production, improve operational efficiency, and expand domestic vaccine manufacturing during a meeting with company executives.
Between 2021 and 2025, Mongolia spent more than 70 billion tugriks on importing vaccines against major livestock diseases, including foot-and-mouth disease, peste des petits ruminants (sheep and goat plague), and lumpy skin disease. To strengthen self-sufficiency, Biocombinat is localizing production technologies for new animal vaccines and establishing facilities for blending and packaging FMD vaccines.
Working with leading laboratories in Russia and China, a ministry-led team aims to roll out the first batch of FMD vaccine doses in November following field trials scheduled for this month.
The minister stressed the need to ensure the timely production of the new vaccines and called for strict adherence to quality standards in manufacturing, while aligning domestic vaccine supply with market demand.
Founded in 1923, Biocombinat was upgraded into a major manufacturing complex in 1973 with Hungarian assistance and reorganized as a state-owned enterprise in 2020. The company currently employs 198 people and produces 46 veterinary and diagnostic products, with an annual capacity of 135,000 liters of liquid vaccines and 31 million doses of freeze-dried vaccines.
Notably, scientists at the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University began Phase II clinical trials of a homegrown drug designed for immunotherapy against wormwood pollen allergy.