Why the Livestock Antibody Hub Is Entering a New Phase

A five-year research collaboration focused on how cattle, pigs and poultry produce protective antibodies is entering its second phase. The Livestock Antibody Hub, a partnership between The Pirbright Institute and the Roslin Institute, has secured renewed funding from the Gates Foundation to continue work that began in 2019.

The programme, launched as Hub 2.0, is intended to deepen understanding of antibody responses to infection in livestock. That knowledge feeds directly into the design of better vaccines and diagnostics for animal diseases, while also providing models that can inform the study of some human infectious diseases.

At the launch meeting at the Roslin Institute, director John Hammond set out the next phase's objectives. Nick Juleff, deputy director at the Gates Foundation, outlined the foundation's current priorities. Scientific presentations ranged from structural vaccinology to efforts to improve mucosal vaccine responses, followed by planning for project delivery, collaboration and priorities for the next phase.

Why Gates Is Doubling Down on Livestock Antibody Science

A Research Bottleneck Gates Is Willing to Fund Again

The renewal matters because antibody responses remain one of the harder parts of livestock vaccine development. Researchers often know that an animal has been exposed to a pathogen, but not whether the resulting immune response is protective. The hub's work is aimed at closing that gap for cattle, pigs and poultry, and the Gates Foundation's second five-year commitment suggests the first phase produced enough scientific or translational value to justify continued investment.

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Livestock Health as a Food Security Lever

The programme is not only about animal disease. Healthier livestock support more reliable food production and can directly affect the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who depend on animals for income, nutrition and resilience. By improving vaccine design and advancing disease prevention tools, the hub is positioned as part of a broader effort to make farming systems more stable in regions where livestock losses carry severe economic consequences.

What the Hub Actually Provides

According to programme leaders, the hub will continue offering specialist expertise, tools and technologies to researchers and vaccine developers in the UK and internationally. That makes it an enabling infrastructure rather than a direct product pipeline. For animal health companies and academic groups, the practical value lies in access to antibody-focused capabilities that may be difficult to replicate independently.

What the Renewal Means for Vaccine Developers and Producers

For the animal health and research communities, the second phase creates a defined window of opportunity:

  • Vaccine and diagnostic developers can engage the hub's specialist antibody expertise and tools for cattle, pig and poultry disease targets over the next five years.
  • Livestock producers and smallholder farmers should not expect immediate market-ready products; this phase remains focused on research, tool development and translational groundwork.
  • Research groups seeking funding should note that the Gates Foundation's continuation signals ongoing priority for livestock immunity and food security work, but project alignment with the foundation's stated priorities will still matter.