Brazil to speed up zika virus vaccine production, says Health minister

In a statement made today (Sep.26) in Washington, Health Minister Ricardo Barros said Brazilian government intends to speed up Phase 3 of research on zika virus vaccine, that includes production for tests in human beings.

Barros has talked to United States Health Secretary, Tom Price, about streamlining the development process of the master cell bank used in the vaccine production.

The new phase will be carried out through a contract between GE Healthcare company and Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), a foundation for research on public health tied to Brazilian government. In the future, Fiocruz shall be the direct responsible for producing the vaccine.

Zika virus vaccine has been developed by Instituto Evandro Chagas and Instituto Nacional de Saúde – agencies subordinate to Brazilian government – in cooperation with Washington University and Texas State University.

According to Barros, tests in monkeys and mice have already been finalized and showed “very positive” results.

“Fiocruz does not have, at this moment, the necessary structure to develop the master cell bank, so we are hiring this company to carry out the development here, in order to speed up the vaccine production process”, the minister said. He estimates that the vaccine will be available for the population in two years.

Translated by Mariana Branco