Zika Vaccine Update: First Human Testing To Start Soon

Zika vaccine trial on humans will start soon. This was confirmed on Monday by GeneOne Life Science in South Korea and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which is based in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Both companies have worked together on the vaccine, aside from the previous collaboration in creating vaccines for MERS and Ebola - both have already been tested.

The Zika vaccine, with code name  GLS-5700, will initially be tried in 40 healthy volunteers. As confirmed by Inovio, the first human testing will begin in the next few weeks. The drug company also revealed that the vaccine has resulted with a strong antibody response in the animal testing phase.

However, reports indicate that the Zika vaccine is still in the very early stage of development. The first phase of the vaccine trial will ensure that humans can well tolerate the vaccine. If successful in the first round of human trial, it will require another  approval for the next human testing, according to Stat News.

For the next stage, the Zika vaccine will be tested on individuals who have Zika, followed by a phase wherein it will be observed how well it will work on a bigger number of people.

Meanwhile, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health Dr. Anthony Fauci leads a team that is currently trying some approaches to a vaccine, such as the use of DNA - similar to what Inovio is doing. Dr. Fauci is expecting the testing to begin in late August.

At present, there is still no approved Zika vaccine to fight the relatively benign virus, however, there are about 20 companies that have been trying to develop one, as confirmed by the World Health Organization. Recently,  the WHO has announced that large-scale testing for any of the Zika vaccines in development will unlikely begin for at least 18 months. According to WHO media officer Nyka Alexander, several years may be necessary before a licensed and completely tested Zika vaccine will be considered ready for use, The Guardian reported.