The first experimental Zika vaccine will begin human testing earlier than what they expected.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals announced on their official website that they received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, which is an approval to begin early-stage safety tests of its DNA-based vaccine against the mosquito-borne virus.
The experimental Zika vaccine was reported to begin human testing in coming weeks, thus put the company ahead of researchers at the National Institutes of Health, who have recently said that they expect to begin testing their own DNA-based Zika vaccine by fall.
According to Invio, in preclinical testing, the synthetic vaccine showed hope to cure Zika because it induced robust antibody and T-cell responses in small and large animals, thus it clearly shows that the product has a potential to prevent infection from this harmful pathogen in humans.
Currently, there are no licensed drugs or vaccines for Zika. This could be the reason why National Institutes of Health or (NIH) is working to develop a Zika vaccine by swapping out the genetic material from its experimental West Nile virus vaccine, Fox reported.
Inovio is partnered with GeneOne Life Science. They plan to begin a 40-person study in order to find out the safest dose of the vaccine in coming weeks, and according to the company's officials, they expect results from the vaccine study by the end of 2016.
Aedes aegypti or known as Yellow fever mosquito, is a carrier of Zika virus, dengue, chikungunya. Zika has spread in Brazil, and was reported spreading fast across the America, and this disease has raised the risk of birth defects. Its common symptoms are fever, headaches, joint pain, muscle pain, skin rash, and conjunctivitis or pink eye.
As a matter of fact, there were requests for abortions reported in some Latin American countries since health officials began issuing warning about the disease.
