India: steps taken to develop vaccine for Zika virus

Written by David Fletcher 05 Feb 2016
India: steps taken to develop vaccine for Zika virus

Amid the scare over the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been declared an international public health emergency by WHO, scientists in Hyderabad say they have developed not one but two vaccines, using a live Zika virus imported officially. This is claimed to be the world's first vaccine for the virus, which is spreading rapidly in Latin America. WHO officials have expressed concern that Zika could hit Africa and Asia as well. Dr Krishna Ella, chairman and MD of Bharat Biotech Ltd, said, ‘On Zika, we were probably the first vaccine company in the world to file a vaccine candidate patent (about nine months ago).’ Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said that they would investigate the feasibility of taking it forward and that the vaccine could be a good example of a 'Made in India' product.

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