CSBS News Desk
According to a report from Punch, an Indian pharmaceutical firm has laid claims that it has developed the world’s first vaccine against mosquito-borne Zika virus.
The Head of the Biotech International Limited, Dr. Krishna Ella, said at a news conference that it had already filed for a patent for the Zika vaccine.
According to him, “On Zika, we are probably the first vaccine company in the world to file a vaccine candidate patent about nine months ago.”
Ella said the firm, which is based in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh’s capital Hyderabad, had sought the Indian government’s 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 revealed that the Zika virus poses a global public health emergency requiring a united response.
There have been around 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly in Brazil alone since October and the virus has been linked to cases in which babies are born with underdeveloped brains.
Despite these developments, 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 in the country.
