Sanofi Pasteur, Fiocruz, and WRAIR link up for Zika vaccine research

French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) and its vaccines global business unit Sanofi Pasteur have agreed to principles of collaboration with Brazil’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation -- by means of its Immuno-biological Technology Institute known as Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz-and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) - a US Department of Defense Laboratory-regarding Zika vaccine development.

This collaboration follows the signing this past summer of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the WRAIR and Sanofi Pasteur to conduct research and development of a Zika vaccine using WRAIR's inactivated-virus vaccine (ZPIV) technology, and is seen as consolidating the drugmaker's leading position in the race to defeat the mosquito-borne virus.

Under the Collaboration, Fiocruz, WRAIR and Sanofi Pasteur intend to combine their expertise in the fight against Zika. Fiocruz's activities will complement those of WRAIR and Sanofi Pasteur's, provide additional expertise, and increase thelikelihood of successfully developing and licensing a safe and effective Zika vaccine as quickly as possible.