An Indian pharmaceutical firm claimed on
Wednesday to have developed the world’s first vaccine against
mosquito-borne Zika virus.
Dr Krishna Ella, Head of the Biotech
International Limited, the company, based in the southern Indian state
of Andhra Pradesh’s capital Hyderabad, said at a news conference that it
has already filed for a patent for 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,” he said.
Ella said the firm has sought the Indian
government help for carrying out human and animal trials for the two
candidate vaccines, which have been developed by its scientists, using a
live Zika virus.
The claims came a day after the World
Health Organisation said that the Zika virus poses a global public
health emergency requiring a united response.
The virus has been linked to cases of microcephaly, in which babies are born with underdeveloped brains.
There have been around 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly in Brazil alone since October.
However, till date, there has been not a
single reported case of Zika virus attack in India, though the
government was said to have tested a number of samples.
Credit: NAN
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