Zika virus

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus with the potential to spread globally due to the distribution and abundance of its mosquito vectors. In 2015, ZIKV transmission reached pandemic status in the Americas, and is now recognized as the definitive cause of an epidemic of infant microcephaly experienced in Brazil. By December of 2015, Puerto Rico reported their first local ZIKV transmission and this U.S. territory has since reported >14,000 confirmed or suspected cases. In adults, ZIKV infection can result in severe neurological disease including encephalitis, myelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), and in rare cases death. There is no FDA-approved vaccine available and development of an effective ZIKV vaccine candidate represents an urgent and unmet clinical need. Given the proven link between ZIKV infection of pregnant mothers and infant microcephaly, vaccine safety is a key consideration. NTI’s HydroVax platform, which utilizes purified virus inactivated with an advanced oxidation technology, offers an important avenue towards meeting this pressing need. To move this vaccine forward, NTI has partnered with Oregon Health & Science University and Washington University-St. Louis with support from the National Institutes of Health.