Bharath Biotech hopes to produce 1 million doses in 4 months.
By Dileep Thekkethil
A Hyderabad-based lab has claimed that they have formulated a vaccine for the Zika virus, which has been deemed as an international public health emergency by the WHO.
The news about the possible vaccine to fight the Zika virus comes on the heels of a report which said the virus was reported in a patient in Texas, which health officials say was likely contracted through sex and not through mosquito bites.
Interestingly, Bharath Biotech, the Hyderabad-based lab that is said to have found the vaccine, also claims that they have in fact found two vaccines to kill the virus.
Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech Ltd. while speaking to NDTV, said: “On Zika, we are probably the first vaccine company in the world to file a vaccine candidate patent about nine months ago.â€
According to him, by developing the Zikavac his lab became the first in the world to file for the global patent for Zika vaccine.
Ella also added that samples of live Zika virus was imported to India by the lab and have developed two variants of the vaccine, but he said it might take time taking them through animal and human trials. He also added that the lab has asked for the assistance of Indian Council of Medical Research and the support of the government.
“We have two candidate vaccines in development. One of them is an inactivated vaccine that has reached the stage of pre-clinical testing in animals,” Ella said.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, a paediatrician and Director General, ICMR, said: “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.â€
Ella is hopeful that if the vaccine passes through the trials, the lab can make one million doses of the vaccine in a span of four months. He has also requested the attention of the prime minister Narendra Modi to make sure that the development of vaccine doesn’t get stuck in red tape.
He added that the vaccine might pave the way for a stronger diplomatic relationship with countries like Brazil where the Zika virus cases are increasingly reported. He also said that as a fellow member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group, India could pioneer what he calls a “vaccine diplomacy.”
“The Prime Minister should take up this project as it helps communities like Brazil and Colombia where we can do vaccine diplomacy. We are a part of the BRICS group and we have to help them. We would love to help. We want global public health to benefit,” he said.
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Public Health Emergency of Intl Concern: the cluster of #microcephaly cases & its possible association w/ #ZikaVirus https://t.co/jgnorT0Ia1
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 1, 2016
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