In recent days, Qingdao Enterprises, a developed cat-infectious peritoneal disease (FIP) mRNA vaccine, was approved for clinical trials in August 2025. The FIP is an "exhibited disease" of cat animals, with a 100% death rate, before which there was no effective vaccine worldwide.
Cat-transmissible peritonealitis is a powerful infectious disease caused by the cat-infective perimenitis virus (FIPV), with death rates ranging from 80 to 100 per cent, known as the “first killer” who threatens the life of the cat. Owing to the lack of a commercial vaccine, the disease has long been an unresolved problem in the area of pet medicine. Patient cats often face two options: euthanasia or attempted unauthorized medication.
Currently, there are only two unauthorized drugs globally — GC.376 and GS-441524 (“441”) — used to treat cat abdominal transmission. Among them, “441” is considered a “therapeutic drug” because of relatively significant therapeutic effects, but its access is limited, expensive and requires long-term injections (usually more than 84 times), which may cause damage to cat liver function. In 2021, the domestic incident of “I am not a pharmacist” was triggered by a copy of “441”, highlighting the urgent need for licit and effective drugs in the market.
The development of a cat-mRNA vaccine, based on the front-line MRNA technology platform, led to innovative breakthroughs in antigen design, production processes and so on. The research and development team, combined with AI algorithms and structural biology, screened and optimized the antigen of the virus and validated its effectiveness through animal experiments.
The MRNA vaccine has a significant advantage over traditional vaccines: the research and development cycle is significantly shorter without the need to develop viruses; the production process is simple and easy to scale; and the mRNA is not integrated into the host genome and is safer. These characteristics have made the vaccine more flexible in responding to outbreaks of animal disease and have also provided ideas for the future development of other pet vaccines.
According to the information received, in 2024, Kimu-Bian established a MRNA vaccine production line and static acceptance through the GMP of the Ministry of Agriculture, laying core competitiveness for subsequent industrialization and product line expansion, and promoting companies to move to innovative heights for pet vaccines. The approval of this clinical batch is not only an expression of the technological strength of the enterprise, but also an important milestone in the pet health sector of our biomedical industry.