World’s First Zika Virus Vaccine Made In India, Claim Scientists

In an important “Make in India” moment, scientists at a Hyderabad lab have said that  they have developed the world’s first vaccine against the Zika Virus.

As the world searches for a vaccine and other global companies take first steps on research, the Bharat Biotech International Limited in Hyderabad says it has patented the Zika vaccine.  .
“On Zika, we are probably the first vaccine company in the world to file a vaccine candidate patent about nine months ago,” said Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech Ltd.
Using a live Zika virus imported officially, the Hyderabad company has now developed two candidate vaccines, but taking them through animal and human trials could be a long haul. Dr Ella said he had sought the government’s support on this and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)has stepped forward to help.
“We have just been informed about the Zika vaccine candidate that Bharat Biotech has. We will examine it from the scientific point of view and see the feasibility of taking it forward. It is a good example of a Make in India product,”  Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, pediatrician and Director General, ICMR has been quoted by media in India.  Dr Ella said in a best case scenario his company can make one million doses of the vaccine in four months. He has sought the direct intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the vaccine’s development and delivery is fast-tracked, cutting through the red tape of regulatory clearances, pointing out that the vaccine can help countries such as Brazil, a fellow member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group, and pave way for what he called “vaccine diplomacy.”

The first known case of Zika virus transmission in the US was reported in Texas by local health officials, who said it likely was contracted through sex and not a mosquito bite, a day after the World Health Organization declared an international public health emergency.

The virus, linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in the Americas, and WHO officials expressed concern that it could hit Africa and Asia as well.

The development is a troubling prospect for the US, Canada and Europe, where Zika had so far only appeared in travelers returning from affected areas. “The patient was infected with the virus after having sexual contact with an ill individual who returned from a country where Zika virus is present” this year, a Dallas County statement read.

The County subsequently tweeted that the virus was contracted from someone who had traveled to Venezuela, and that a second case of Zika imported from Venezuela has also been documented.

Dr Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), later confirmed in an email the case of sexually transmitted infection reported earlier in Texas. Someone who visited Venezuela and was infected there developed Zika symptoms as did their sexual partner who never left the US, he said on Twitter.

The Texas Department of State Health Services was more cautious, saying: “Case details are being evaluated, but the possibility of sexual transmission from an infected person to a non-infected person is likely in this case.” Last month, the CDC said it was aware of one reported case of sexual transmission of Zika and one case of the virus being present in a man’s semen after it disappeared from his blood.