January 2026: The commercialisation of a louping ill (LI) vaccine, developed at Moredun, has been awarded £450k as part of a DEFRA-funded research project, following urgent calls from hill farmers experiencing severe livestock losses. Louping Ill virus predomonantly affects sheep, but cattle, dogs and horses can also be infected. Louping Ill (LI) is a tick-borne viral disease to which sheep and red grouse are particularly susceptible, and farms newly infected with LI may lose up to 50% of affected sheep. High losses are usually encountered when infection with tick-borne fever (TBF) occurs at the same time.Although the disease was previously well controlled in sheep by a vaccine developed at Moredun, the vaccine was withdrawn from the market due to manufacturing difficulties in 2017. Since then, LI has increased in prevalence in endemic upland areas of the UK, and has also spread south and east to new areas with the spread of tick. UpTick project The new DEFRA-funded project – "UpTick" – is a partnership between Moredun, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project. The project will evaluate the impact of environmental change on tick populations and livestock health in the uplands: a case study in Dartmoor", with a focus on disease in sheep and other moreland wildlife. New vaccine development Moredun have recently developed a new generation vaccine against LI, which trials have shown to be highly effective in protecting sheep against LI. Importantly the new vaccine has none of the difficulties in manufacture encountered by the previous vaccine. The new funding from DEFRA will allow Moredun to complete phase 1 of its commercialisation process of the new LI vaccine, and this phase has now commenced through a partner Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), which is transferring the research vaccine technology into a commercial production system. This DEFRA funding represents a crucial milestone in bringing our louping ill vaccine from the laboratory to the market. The urgency expressed by hill farmers facing devastating livestock losses, combined with growing public health concerns highlighted by UKHSA's involvement, underscores why this work is so vital. Where there isn't a clear commercial pathway through traditional industry routes, Moredun is demonstrating that a research institute can step in to bridge that gap. Professor Tom Mcneilly Scientific Director of the Moredun Research Institute and Chief Executive of the Moredun Foundation Related information For further details contact Andrew Kelloe, Knowledge Exchange and Communciations ManagerMoredun Research InstituteEmail Andrew Publication date 05 Jan, 2026
