Disclosed are compositions, kits, and methods for enhancing growth in an animal in need thereof. The methods typically comprise administering orally to the animal a composition comprising biodegradable particles, the biodegradable particles comprising a polymer or a co-polymer comprising polymerized lactic acid and having an effective average diameter of 0.5-5 μm. In the methods, the animal is administered a dose of the biodegradable particles that is effective for improving feed conversion rate in the animal in comparison to an animal that is not administered the composition.

The present invention relates to a recombinant avian herpes virus, which comprises at least two recombinant nucleotide sequences, each recombinant nucleotide sequence encoding a distinct antigenic peptide, wherein the at least two recombinant nucleotide sequences are inserted into distinct non-coding regions of the viral genome chosen among the region located between UL44 and UL45, the region located between UL45 and UL46, the region located between US10 and SORF3, and the region located between SORF3 and US2.

The invention relates to recombinant yeasts of the Kluyveromyces lactis species for the production of a humoral immune response against defined antigens, to the production of said yeasts, and to the use thereof for protective vaccination against pathogens and malignant cells containing said antigens.

The invention relates to recombinant Kluyveromyces lactis (K. lactis) yeasts which are capable of the highly efficient expression of one or more foreign proteins and are suitable for use as a vaccine for generating a protective immune response against pathogens. The invention provides in particular K. lactis strains for the targeted cloning of foreign antigen-coding nucleic acids into the yeast genome of the K. lactis strain, which is characterized in that the K. lactis strain has integrated expression cassettes for foreign antigens as an alternative or in addition to the KILAC4 locus on the KIURA3-20 locus (KLLA0E22771g) and/or on the KIMET5-1 locus (KLLA0B03938g). The invention further relates to integrative expression vectors and to methods for producing the K. lactis strains of the invention as well as to the use thereof as vaccines.

The invention relates to recombinant viral vectors for the insertion and expression of foreign genes for use in safe immunizations to protect against a variety of pathogens. The invention also relates to multivalent compositions or vaccine comprising one or more recombinant viral vectors for protection against a variety of pathogens. The present invention relates to methods of making an using said recombinant viral vectors.

The present invention relates to the use of a diluent for the in-use stabilisation of cells infected with a cell-associated alphaherpesvims. Contrary to the long-standing practice of incorporating a considerable amount of peptone into the diluent for such virus-infected cells, it was found that a reduction of the amount of protein in the diluent improved the in-use stability of alphaherpesvirus-infected cells. Whereby the best stability was even obtained using a protein-free diluent. This effect was especially pronounced for recombinant HVT viruses expressing a heterologous insert. Being protein-free is highly advantageous for the production of the diluent, in respect of costs, safety, and consistency of production.

The present disclosure provides a recombinant viral vector comprising at least one transgene inserted into a Marek's disease viral genome for treatment of diseases in poultry. Also provided are immunogenic compositions comprising such recombinant viral vectors and methods for preventing or inhibiting Marek's disease in combination with at least a second disease in poultry.

Provided is an immunostimulator containing: chitosan and/or a chitosan derivative each having a weight-average molecular weight of 10k to 1000k; and an anionic surfactant, the immunostimulator being in particulate form. Also provided are a pharmaceutical composition and an alimentary product, each containing the immunostimulator as an active ingredient.

A vaccine delivery method is presented that includes a composition including as one component a slurry matrix that is a liquid at room temperature and a gel at physiological pH, physiological salt concentrations and/or physiological temperatures and as a second component one or more antigens. Also included are methods of inducing an immune response in a subject and vaccinating a subject by administering such compositions.

The present invention provides recombinant herpesvirus of turkeys (HVT) vectors that contain and express antigens of avian pathogens, compositions comprising the recombinant HVT vectors and polyvalent vaccines comprising the recombinant HVT vectors. The present invention further provides methods of vaccination against a variety of avian pathogens and method of producing the recombinant HVT vectors.