Zee Media Bureau

Hyderabad: In a medical breakthrough, scientists at a Hyderabad lab claimed to have developed the world's first vaccine against the Zika virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil and is rapidly spreading in the Americas.

As per reports, Hyderabad-based Bharat Bioltech International Limited (BBIL) has developed two candidate vaccines from an imported live Zika virus. However, the trials on animals and humans are yet to be done.

The breakthrough development came amidst a worldwide scare about the deadly mosquito-borne virus which prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a global health emergency.

The firm says it has already patented the vaccine even as other researchers search for a cure to combat the deadly virus, which has been linked to microcephaly - where an infant has an abnormally small head.

“On Zika, we are probably the first vaccine company in the world to file a vaccine candidate patent about nine months ago,” Dr Krishna Ella, the chairman and managing director of the company, told NDTV.

Dr Ella said that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has agreed to help in the vaccine trial.

"We have just been informed about the Zika vaccine candidate that Bharat Biotech has. We will examine it from the scientific point of view and see the feasibility of taking it forward. It is a good example of a Make in India product," added Dr Soumya Swaminathan, pediatrician and Director General, ICMR.

Dr Ella has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direct intervention to fast track the vaccine development, the report added.