From Microbes To Markets: What It Takes To Deliver Methane Vaccines For Livestock

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2 days ago

Methane vaccines are an attractive proposition because they build on natural immune responses, work with existing industry and farming practices, and are scalable globally. Their efficacy lies in stimulating an immune response that targets methanogens.
By David Aitken, CEO, Lucidome Bio
Reducing methane emissions from animal agriculture is no longer a hypothetical. At the 2025 State of the Science Summit: Reducing Methane from Animal Agriculture, held at UC Davis in California, one session in particular signalled how far we've come and how far we still need to go. The panel ' Advancements and Barriers Toward a Methane Reducing Vaccine ' brought together global leaders in immunology, agritech innovation, and biotech development to explore the scientific and regulatory frontiers of this emerging solution.
Moderated by Professor Paul Wood, a member of the Scientific Oversight Committee of the Global Methane Hub and a recognised authority on livestock vaccines, the panel also featured:
John Hammond, Principal Scientist, Pirbright Institute
Colin South, CEO, ArkeaBio
David Aitken, CEO, Lucidome Bio
What followed was a rigorous, grounded discussion on where the science stands, what technical barriers remain, and how the sector can work collaboratively to move from early promise towards real-world impact.
Why methane vaccines matter
Enteric methane emissions from cattle, sheep, and other farmed ruminants are responsible for around 5% of total annual global greenhouse gas emissions based on Food and Agriculture Organization data. This is similar to the total annual greenhouse gas emissions of all the passenger cars around the world. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, has said that ' Cutting methane is the strongest lever we have to slow climate change over the next 25 years and complements necessary efforts to reduce carbon dioxide '.
Methane vaccines are an attractive proposition because they build on natural immune responses, work with existing industry and farming practices, and are scalable globally. Their efficacy lies in stimulating an immune response that targets methanogens – specialised microbes in the rumen which are responsible for methane production – without disrupting digestion or affecting animal health.
Scientific momentum – from antigen identification to animal trials
Lucidome Bio is moving decisively from discovery to development. Our presentation at the summit outlined key milestones already achieved including:
Screening over 2,000 relevant genes and filtering hundreds of vaccine targets for evaluation
Prioritising a shortlist of 20+ vaccine candidates which are now going through in vitro testing and trials in cattle to assess immune response and effectiveness
Demonstrating we can induce strong antibody responses and that these antibodies bind to methanogens
We are using a range of tools from AI to bioinformatics to better understand how to trigger a strong, specific immune system response. Cattle trials are underway to measure how effectively the vaccine stimulates an immune response (immunogenicity) and effectiveness at reducing methane yields. These steps form part of a defined development pipeline that has been designed to de-risk each stage before moving toward commercial scale-up.
Clarifying the barriers: perception, policy, and pace
While scientific progress is tangible, the panel discussion made it clear that significant challenges remain. Attendees asked questions on several fronts:
1. Regulatory readiness
Global regulators lack a common framework for methane vaccines for livestock as existing regulatory approval pathways have been developed for therapeutic vaccines. However, the panel noted that speed matters, that early adopter markets can accelerate regulatory approvals, and that there is an opportunity to meet core regulatory needs while building the larger scale deployment data that provides clarity to partners, investors, and governments.
2. Public and producer perception
Pushback to new solutions is always a risk and can be rooted in a misunderstanding that these vaccines introduce something 'unnatural' to the animal. In reality, ruminant animals already recognise methanogens. Methane vaccines induce antibodies that may already be present at modest levels – effectively stimulating immune responses that are already part of the animal's biology. They aren't about inserting foreign organisms into food systems. This helps to support producer and consumer acceptance.
3. Collaboration vs competition
A critical takeaway from the discussion is that collaboration is an important element to solving complicated vaccine challenges. Our team is already collaborating with a range of expert partners including AgResearch and Pirbright Institute to make the breakthroughs needed for a successful vaccine globally. No single technology can solve this challenge and the methane mitigation toolkit will need different options including a variety of feed additives, selective breeding, and lower methane pastures. These tools can complement one another and potentially be stacked to enhance the benefits – this isn't a winner-takes-all scenario.
4. Evolutionary response and efficacy
What if the rumen microbiome evolves in a way that has other impacts on animals from inhibiting the growth of methanogens or makes a methane vaccine less effective over time? The panel acknowledged there is more work to do on this but that literature on methane reducing feed additives indicates that there should not be any negative impacts on productivity from a methane vaccine. We are targeting productivity gains from our vaccine but recognise a lot of work still needs to be done to achieve this as other sessions at the conference also explored. Methanogens share many similarities across ruminant species and countries which is helpful for efficacy and, just like flu vaccines can be updated for new strains, methane-reducing vaccines could also adapt as needed over time as research continues to progress.
5. Timeframes
We often get asked when a methane vaccine will be ready. While this is influenced by how much investment we raise and the regulatory pathway in different countries, our focus is on demonstrating robust proof of concept in cattle and progress towards key elements of our first vaccine product over the next two years. We aim to get approved vaccines into the hands of farmers within five years. This aligns with a typical 3 – 5 year commercialisation timeframe post proof of concept that Professor Paul Wood highlighted during the discussion on other vaccines. The commercial approach is critical alongside technology development to delivering on this timeframe. There are opportunities to accelerate deployment through licensing opportunities with global animal health companies.
Market impetus – supply chain momentum is here
The commercial signals are encouraging. In New Zealand, where Lucidome Bio is based, dairy cooperative Fonterra – one of the world's largest – has committed to reducing supply chain emissions and will start offering financial incentives to farmers from 2025/26 who supply lower emissions milk. This mechanism is supported by Fonterra's customers Nestle and Mars showing how global agribusinesses can drive innovation through their supply chain. This type of leadership creates clear demand for tools such as methane vaccines.
The future is within reach
There is still a lot of work ahead – on technology development, public education, aligning regulatory pathways, and building multi-stakeholder coalitions – but the tone of the panel was clear: methane vaccines are no longer just about the fundamental science. They're now a credible, developing technology, generating a lot of interest across the sector.
We've spent decades understanding this problem. It's time to invest just as deeply in solving it.
Watch the event on catchup…