Livestock tick disease vaccine project gets Defra funding

A new vaccine, developed at the Moredun Research Institute to protect sheep against tick-borne disease, has received a £450,000 cash boost from Defra.

Louping ill (LI) is a serious, tick-borne viral disease affecting sheep and red grouse, 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.

See also: Tick threat grows amid rising Lyme disease cases 

The funding, part of a Defra research project, will enable the vaccine to progress through the commercialisation process, transferring the research vaccine technology into a commercial production system.

Professor Tom Mcneilly, scientific director of the Moredun Research Institute, said: “This Defra funding represents a crucial milestone in bringing our louping ill vaccine from the laboratory to the market.”

He added that the urgency expressed by hill farmers facing devastating livestock losses, combined with growing public health concerns, underscores the vital importance of this work.

Recognising the vaccine’s importance to the UK sheep industry, Moredun has started commercialisation with Kernfarm, the National Sheep Association (NSA), and the moorland industry. 

Commercialisation will take place in three phases: manufacture transfer, sheep trials and licensing with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. 

Additional funding

A fundraising campaign was initiated in June 2025, with the Scottish government pledging £100,000 in industry match funding.

Moredun has so far received more than £1m in donations and pledges from the moorland and livestock sectors, including the NSA central and regional committees.

An additional £1.2m is needed to finish phase 2.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker welcomed the Defra funding.

He said: “It’s a problem that affects all of GB.

“And this has been a real rural crowdfunder already, which has given government the confidence to back it too.”

Manufacturing difficulties

The disease was previously well controlled in sheep through vaccination.

However, manufacturing difficulties of the vaccine, which was also developed at Moredun and commercialised by MSD Animal Health, led to its withdrawal from the market in 2017.

Research trials of the new vaccine have, however, shown it to be highly effective in protecting sheep against LI.

And it has none of the manufacturing difficulties that the previous vaccine had. 

Reports of LI in cattle, dogs and horses are also increasing.

While these species are considered less susceptible to LI, they reflect the rising viral loading of disease in upland hills and moors.

LI can also affect humans and is attracting interest from the public health sector, including UKHSA.