Steps to create the first Zika virus vaccine are underway and the initial phase of human testing has received an approval from the U.S. Food and Drug administration (FDA) to proceed. Drug company Inovio Pharmaceuticals is behind the trial along with South Korean medical company GeneOne Life Science. The human testing is expected to start in the next few weeks.
The Zika virus vaccine, called the GLS-5700 for now, will be tested among 40 humans, who have volunteered for the trial and who are deemed healthy and without any virus infections or complications. If the trial is a success it will move on to the next phase, which will see the Zika virus vaccine being tested on actual patients with Zika infection. If this turn out to be good as well, a larger test will be done next, per CNN.
Zika Virus Vaccine Showed Positive Results In Animal Testing
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, through its president and CEO Dr. J. Joseph Kim, stated that results for the first human Zika virus vaccine trial will be expected to come out "later this year," per its press release. The company has been working with GeneOne Life Science in conducting Zika virus vaccine tests in mice and monkeys before seeking to do human tests. The vaccine showed that the previous test subjects presented strong immunities against Zika infection, per NBC News.
Experimental vaccine for Zika virus gets OK for human trials from U.S. health officials. https://t.co/xK1WbngaGf
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 20, 2016
More Zika Virus Vaccine Underway For Other Companies
Since the Zika outbreak, drug companies have been racing to develop a Zika virus vaccine. Inovio Pharmaceuticals and GeneOne Life Science first agreed to work together nine months ago while doing a teleconference. However, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is also currently testing its own Zika virus vaccine in animals and may soon follow with human tests as well, per Stat News.
The rush to produce a viable Zika virus vaccine is much needed as Zika cases continue to rise and has already affected 61 countries around the world, especially in the Latin American regions. Zika virus is carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito and its infection has been proven to affect pregnant women and their babies, resulting in birth defects.
