The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted the use of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ingelvac CircoFlex during pregnancy and lactation in sows. The vaccine is registered worldwide for the protection of pigs against porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) related diseases. Ingelvac CircoFlex reduces mortality, clinical signs and lesions associated with PCV2.

Today, piglet vaccination is the global standard measure for the prevention of PCV2 related diseases in pigs; Ingelvac CircoFlex is the global market leader in this product segment.

George Heidgerken, head of Boehringer Ingelheim animal health said, “Ingelvac CircoFlex is the first PCV2 vaccine licensed in the European Union to protect piglets as well as sows. We are proud that we can now offer veterinarians and farmers the means for an even broader protection of pig herds against this fatal virus.”

PCV2 can have a devastating impact on the pigs’ health, causing suffering to the animals and economic damage to the farmers. An infection with this virus may lead to wasting, paleness of the skin, dyspnea or diarrhea in piglets. In breeding herds, PCV2 infection can cause reproductive losses in sows. In both, piglets and sows, PCV2 can also cause medically and economically relevant subclinical infections (infections without evident clinical signs).

It has been demonstrated in further studies that sow vaccination with Ingelvac CircoFlex has significant positive effects on the reproductive performance, in particular the farrowing rate, the number of piglets born alive and weaned per litter.

The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies.