Health

India finds breakthrough in developing Zika vaccines

The Hyderabad based vaccine manufacturer has submitted two drug candidates – one recombinant and one inactivated – before Indian government for approval.

Amidst panic about the spread of Zika across the globe, India based Bharat Biotech on Wednesday claimed to have achieved breakthrough in developing a vaccine to fight the deadly virus.mosquito

The Hyderabad based vaccine manufacturer has submitted two drug candidates – one recombinant and one inactivated – before Indian government for approval.

A recombinant vaccine is one produced through recombinant DNA technology while an inactivated vaccine is prepared by eliminating disease causing microbe using chemicals, heat or radiation.

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Bharat Biotech CMD Krishna Ella told the media that the company may be the first in the world to file global patent for Zika vaccine candidates.

In the next 15 days the Indian company will be able to start animal testing of the inactivated vaccine that has reached the stage of pre-clinical testing in animals, he said.

Bharat Biotech started working the vaccine a year ago and will complete pre-clinical studies for the vaccine in next five to six months, before commencing process to secure regulatory approval.

A day earlier, French drug maker Sanofi’s vaccine division, Sanofi Pasteur, had announced launching a vaccine research and development project in a view to preventing Zika virus infection and disease.

“Sanofi Pasteur is responding to the global call to action to develop a Zika vaccine given the disease’s rapid spread and possible medical complications,” Sanofi Pasteur global head of research Nicholas Jackson said in the company’s website.

The WHO has already declared the mosquito borne virus an international public health emergency.

According to WHO, Zika virus has spread in 23 countries in the world mostly those in South America and North America. The virus has hit Brazil the hardest.

Big Wire

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