Dr. Nguyen Van Diep was born in 1983 in Hai Duong, Vietnam. In 2006, he graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Hanoi University of Agriculture I (now Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences). He then joined the faculty as a lecturer in veterinary medicine. In 2013, he received a full Monbukagakusho scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. in Veterinary Pathology at Miyazaki University in Japan.
A TALENTED SCHOLAR ABROAD
In 2015, Dr. Diep won the award for Best Student at the 7th International Conference on Emerging and Re-emerging Pig Diseases in Kyoto, Japan. In 2018, after obtaining his Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine from Miyazaki University, he continued his postdoctoral research at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, focusing on viral diseases in pigs and vaccine development.
Determined to pursue a career in applied research, Dr. Diep actively sought opportunities to enhance his knowledge, broaden his horizons, and build connections during his doctoral studies. He proactively proposed and participated in numerous research projects to gain experience, access new techniques, and publish his findings.
“It is essential to acquire scientific knowledge abroad and then contribute to your home country. I hope to play a small part in this process through my work in research, university education, and supporting farmers and businesses in disease management.”
At Kagoshima University, Dr. Diep focused his research on viruses affecting pigs, such as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), as well as cell culture and line development.
While conducting research at Kagoshima, Dr. Diep maintained collaborations with colleagues at the Key Laboratory of Veterinary Medicine in Vietnam. He primarily worked on virus isolation, culture, and characterization, which improved virus isolation efficiency from field samples and enabled virus attenuation and selection of potential vaccine candidates.
African Swine Fever (ASF) remains a persistent and devastating disease in Southeast Asia’s pig industry. Despite nearly 4,000 research studies on the ASF virus over the past century, no country has successfully commercialized an ASF vaccine.
Recognizing the urgent need for a vaccine, Dr. Diep was invited by Mr. Vu Tien Lam, Chairman of AVAC Vietnam JSC, to return to Vietnam in early 2021 and join a project to develop an ASF vaccine. Dr. Diep believed that among the various ASF vaccine technologies, developing a live attenuated vaccine was the most promising approach.
To create an excellent vaccine strain, Dr. Diep diligently worked on further attenuating the virus strain provided by the United States, ultimately developing a master virus seed that met the stringent requirements of a high-quality vaccine.
THE “INCIDENT” OF ASF
During his research, Dr. Diep created the DMAC cell line (patent-protected), which has superior characteristics for rapid virus propagation and stable large-scale production. He conducted over 100 experiments in animals and laboratories to evaluate and optimize the vaccine’s usage, generating a comprehensive dataset.
In addition to his work on the ASF vaccine, Dr. Diep has led numerous projects to develop and produce other vaccines, including those for bovine dermatophytosis, porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), pseudorabies in pigs, and infectious bronchitis, Gumboro, and Reovirus in poultry.
In recognition of his contributions, Dr. Diep was appointed as the General Director of AVAC Vietnam JSC in October 2021. His technological innovations and inventions have been converted into shares valued at over VND 100 billion in the company.
In July 2022, AVAC’s ASF vaccine, AVAC ASF LIVE, became the first ASF vaccine approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for supervised circulation in the market. The supervision process demonstrated its high effectiveness, with approximately 94% of vaccinated pigs developing antibodies, and no detection of the virus in fecal and saliva samples 14 days after vaccination…
By July 2023, AVAC ASF LIVE also became the first ASF vaccine approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for commercial distribution in Vietnam. Currently, Vietnam has two companies authorized to commercialize ASF vaccines (AVAC and NAVETCO). As of this moment, Vietnam remains the world’s first and only country to successfully produce an ASF vaccine.
“YOU ARE A TREASURE”
The key to AVAC’s technology lies in its cell line for virus propagation. Research by international scientists has revealed that the African Swine Fever virus primarily thrives and replicates in differentiated macrophages in the middle and late stages. These macrophages mainly proliferate in the body’s lymphoid organs, lungs, and liver.
“With international attention, AVAC has sent its AVAC ASF Live vaccine to the World Organization for Animal Health’s reference laboratory in Canada and will soon send it to Australia for independent testing and evaluation. This demonstrates AVAC’s confidence in meeting the most stringent international standards with this product.”
Dr. Nguyen Van Diep
Over the past two years since its release, AVAC has conducted numerous trials in more than 20 provinces and cities, covering all associated costs for testing, monitoring, and evaluation. They have supplied the domestic market with 3 million doses of the ASF vaccine and exported 465,000 doses (460,000 to the Philippines and 5,000 to Nigeria). When used on a large scale, the vaccine has proven to be safe and highly protective. Notably, in Lang Son province, after two months of vaccine use, 90% of the outbreaks were eradicated, and after four months, all 162 communes in 11 districts were free from African Swine Fever.
The AVAC ASF Live vaccine has been approved for controlled circulation on pigs by the Philippines’ Departments of Agriculture and Health. Starting in August 2024, the Philippine government will use state funds to purchase AVAC’s vaccine and provide free vaccinations for the country’s pig population. Several other countries, including India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, have also placed orders for the AVAC ASF Live vaccine. Interestingly, during negotiations to become exclusive distributors of the vaccine, billionaires from Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia exclaimed, “You are a treasure!” to Dr. Diep.
The ASF vaccine has opened doors for AVAC to forge deeper collaborations with veterinary authorities at various levels, leading corporations, companies, and farms in Vietnam, as well as international organizations such as the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, along with top global experts in veterinary medicine…
The full article was published in the Vietnam Economic Magazine, Issue 02-20245, released on January 13, 2025. To read the full article, please visit: https://postenp.phaha.vn/chi-tiet-toa-soan/tap-chi-kinh-te-viet-nam
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