Protective efficacy against Zika virus challenge demonstrated with three platforms in monkeys
FRIDAY, Aug. 5, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Three vaccine platforms have demonstrated protective efficacy against Zika virus (ZIKV) challenge in rhesus monkeys, according to research published online Aug. 4 in Science.
Noting that the development of a safe and effective ZIKV vaccine is an urgent global priority, Peter Abbink, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues investigated three vaccine platforms that have been developed in order to protect against ZIKV challenge in rhesus monkeys.
The researchers found that a purified inactivated virus vaccine was able to induce ZIKV-specific neutralizing antibodies, and provided complete protection for monkeys against ZIKV strains from Brazil and Puerto Rico. A second approach using purified immunoglobulin from vaccinated monkeys was able to confer passive protection in adoptive transfer studies. In a third approach, a plasmid DNA vaccine and single-shot recombinant rhesus adenovirus serotype 52 vector expressing ZIKV prM-Env was able to elicit neutralizing antibodies; this also provided complete protection for monkeys against ZIKV challenge.
“These data support the rapid clinical development of ZIKV vaccines for humans,” the authors write.
Three authors are employees of BIOQUAL.
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