Company Says Zika Vaccine Shows Promise in Mice, Expects Human Tests by End of Year

Dr. Angela Rocha (L), pediatric infectologist at Oswaldo Cruz Hospital, examines Ludmilla Hadassa Dias de Vasconcelos (2 months), who has microcephaly, on January 26, 2016 in Recife, Brazil. Mario Tama/Getty Images

One of the dozen or so companies racing to develop a Zika vaccine said Wednesday that its experimental shot showed promise in mice.

The U.S. biotech firm Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said the vaccine induced a robust and durable response in mice, developing antibodies and generating a response from T-cells, which play an important role in immunizing the body.

“We will next test the vaccine in non-human primates and initiate clinical product manufacturing. We plan to initiate Phase I human testing of our Zika vaccine before the end of 2016,” Inovio Chief Executive Joseph Kim said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

Phase I is the first stage in a three-step process of testing new medicines and involves giving an experimental product to healthy volunteers.

Human trials of other vaccines could start as early as August.

Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen in a lab at the Fiocruz institute on January 26, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. The mosquito transmits the Zika virus and is being studied at the institute. Mario Tama/Getty Images