The Brazilian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, announced the creation of Brazil’s first antigen and vaccine bank against foot-and-mouth disease, designating Biogénesis Bagó as the supplier of antigens for vaccine production through the Paraná Technological Institute (Tecpar)
This first Brazilian antigen and vaccine bank for foot-and-mouth disease represents a strategic stock of supplies aimed at the rapid formulation of vaccines in the event of localized outbreaks. The agreement comes as Brazil assumes, for the first time, global leadership in beef production—surpassing the United States—and is set to close 2025 with an estimated 12.345 million tons.
In March 2025, Tecpar signed a technological cooperation agreement with Biogénesis Bagó for the transfer and internalization of technology to create the national bank of antigens and vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease.
Rodolfo Bellinzoni, Director of Industrial Operations and Innovation at Biogénesis Bagó, and who participated in the official announcement, emphasized that the creation of the antigen and vaccine bank against foot-and-mouth disease brings greater peace of mind to Brazil’s productive sector: “For us, it is both an honor and a great responsibility to safeguard the sanitary status of the world’s leading beef-producing countries. Biogénesis Bagó has managed Argentina’s antigen bank since 2000, those of the United States and Canada since 2006, and also serves countries such as Taiwan and South Korea—now joined by Brazil.”
The ten-year agreement provides for the creation of a bank containing 10 million doses of antigens from the two foot-and-mouth disease virus serotypes most prevalent in Brazil, and the immediate supply of up to 10 million doses of vaccine to the Ministry in the event of outbreaks.
The bank will operate through the Paraná Technological Institute (Tecpar), a public entity of the State of Paraná, Brazil, with more than 80 years’ experience in technology and health, and a technological partner of Biogénesis Bagó. Tecpar will thus have the necessary supplies to make emergency vaccines available nationwide within 72 hours.
Biogénesis Bagó has produced more than 3.5 billion doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccines, which have been approved by the world’s most demanding health authorities—it was the first and only company to receive approval from the United.
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and is prequalified by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The company has played a key role in addressing health emergencies due to foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in Taiwan (1997), Argentina (2001), Uruguay (2002), South Korea (2016), Indonesia (2022), and other countries in the Middle East
Currently, the vaccine is exported in nine different formulations to 27 countries to serve all susceptible species, including buffaloes, goats, sheep, and pigs, in addition to cattle.
“In an ever-growing animal protein market, maintaining sanitary status is key. In this regard, foot-and-mouth disease can cause significant economic losses and jeopardize food security,” Bellinzoni points out.
The establishment of the antigen bank in Brazil through the partnership between Biogénesis Bagó and Tecpar consolidates the work of the biotechnology company, which has devoted more than seven decades to the prevention and control of foot-and-mouth disease globally, continually investing in research and development to meet each region’s animal health needs.
