Hyd firm developing two vaccines to fight with Zika
A day after guidelines were issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare for coping with the spread of Zika virus, Hyderabad-based bio-restorative producer Bharat Biotech on Wednesday declared that it’s two vaccine candidates who may be developed for fighting the dreaded ailment.
“We’ve two ZikaVac vaccine candidates in development; one is a recombinant vaccine and another an inactivated vaccine which has reached the phase of preclinical testing in animals. We consider we have an early mover advantage in developing the vaccine and are likely the first in the planet to file for an international patent for Zika vaccine candidates,” Bharat Biotech chairman and managing director Krishna Ella said.
He remarked the firm had commenced work on the Zika virus disease vaccine in 2014 when it was additionally working on Chikungunya that’s transmitted by the same mosquito Aedes Aegypti. He said a group of seven to eight scientists have been working on the job but refused to divulge the specific investments made on the job.
On the period of rolling out the vaccine, he said: “It all depends on the authorities. In case it gives all the required regulatory approvals shortly keeping in mind the severe nature of the illness, the organization is going to have the capacity to bring the vaccine to the marketplace in the following couple of years.” Ella said the firm has additionally written to World Health Organisation (WHO) regarding both vaccine candidates.
The organization has invested since beginning over $150 million to develop its portfolio of vaccines. On February 1, 2016, the WHO declared the outbreak of Zika in Latin America as well as the Caribbean as a ‘great occasion.’
