EU researchers join forces in search for Zika vaccine

Leading European research groups are pooling their talents with the formation of a new consortium targeting the development of an effective and affordable vaccine against the Zika virus.

The ZIKAVAX consortium will receive substantial European Union (EU) funding, including 5 million euros ($5.3 million) from the Horizon 2020 program, and will consist of partners the Austrian vaccine developer Themis Bioscience, the European Vaccine Initiative, Institut Pasteur and French government-funded research organization, the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives.

Themis' proprietary technology platform Themaxyn, based on a well-established measles vaccine vector, will take a central role in the efforts to develop a vaccine for the fast-spreading mosquito-borne virus that, it is believed, can cause the condition microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with underdeveloped brains.