The U.S. Army’s plan to grant exclusive rights to a promising Zika vaccine to a major pharmaceutical company has raised questions about whether that threatens its future affordability and availability to people in developing countries.
The purified, inactivated Zika virus vaccine — called ZP IV — has been developed by the U.S. Army and is currently in its first phase of testing at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Maryland and the National Institutes of Health.
If it successfully passes clinical trials, the vaccine would have the potential to halt the spread of the virus, transmitted by mosquitoes and sexual intercourse, which has been reported in 69 countries since 2015, including the United States, and is linked to serious birth defects in children.
Read more #Access2Meds stories:
► Universal health coverage: Unique challenges, bold solutions
► From communities to global policy: Innovations to access medicines underway
► Innovating to the last mile: How access to medicines can end epidemics for good
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.