Purevax FeLV | European Medicines Agency (2024)

Overview

Purevax FeLV is a veterinary vaccine used to treat feline leukaemia in cats. It contains the active substance recombinant live canarypox virus (vCP97).

Purevax FeLV is used to vaccinate cats from the age of eight weeks against feline leukaemia, an illness affecting the immune system caused by a type of virus known as a retrovirus. The vaccine is used to prevent the symptoms of the disease and to prevent FeLV from remaining in the blood.

The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription. Purevax FeLV is presented as a suspension for injection. A 1 ml or 0.5 ml dose of Purevax FeLV is injected under the skin. The first injection should be given in cats aged at least eight weeks, with a second injection three to five weeks later. Immunity starts at the latest two weeks after the second injection and lasts for a year. The cats should be revaccinated every year.

For more information about using Purevax FeLV, see the package leaflet or contact your veterinarian or pharmacist.

Purevax FeLV is a vaccine. Vaccines work by priming the immune system (the body’s natural defences) how to defend itself against diseases. Purevax FeLV contains genes from the FeLV subgroup A called env and gag which have been inserted into another vector (carrier) virus called canarypox using ‘recombinant DNA technology’. The canarypox viruses do not spread or multiply in the cat but they do produce proteins from the FeLV genes.

When a cat is given the vaccine, the immune system recognises the FeLV proteins as ‘foreign’ and makes antibodies against them. In the future, the immune system will be able to produce antibodies more quickly when it is exposed to the FeLV. The antibodies will help to protect against the disease caused by the virus. Immunisation against FeLV subgroup A provides full protection against all three subgroups of the virus: A, B and C.

The effectiveness of Purevax FeLV has been studied in several trials in laboratory conditions where cats were vaccinated and infected with FeLV. In the field, efficacy has been studied in one main study of kittens aged eight weeks or older, in which the effects of Purevax FeLV were compared with those of another vaccine against FeLV. The vaccinated kittens were housed for up to 28 weeks with a group of kittens who were infected with FeLV. In all trials, the main measure of effectiveness was the presence of antibodies against the virus and infectious FeLV in the vaccinated kittens’ blood.

Purevax FeLV vaccine provided protection against FeLV infection. The first evidence of FeLV infection occurred after six weeks in only a few of the kittens vaccinated with Purevax FeLV. Infection was seen from four weeks in non-vaccinated animals.

A temporary small nodule (hard lump) may appear at the site of injection. This usually disappears within one to four weeks. Temporary lethargy (listlessness) and hyperthermia (increased body temperature) may occur for one day, exceptionally for two days.

Purevax FeLV should not be used in pregnant cats or during lactation.

For the full list of side effects and restrictions of Purevax FeLV, see the package leaflet.

Safety information has been included in the summary of product characteristics and the package leaflet for Purevax FeLV, including the appropriate precautions to be followed by healthcare professionals and animal owners or keepers.

In case of accidental self-injection seek medical advice immediately and show the package leaflet or the label to the doctor.

The European Medicines Agency decided that Purevax FeLV’s benefits are greater than its risks and it can be authorised for use in the EU.

Purevax FeLV received a marketing authorisation valid throughout the EU on 18 April 2005.

Purevax FeLV : EPAR - Medicine overview

Reference Number: EMA/500474/2007

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