ROCKVILLE, Md. — Stopping the spread of the Zika virus may require the help of a vaccine, and a Rockville company hopes to play a big role in testing any new medicine developed to battle the illness.
Accelovance is a clinical research organization that organizes the testing of new vaccines to make they are safe to administer to humans.
“We’ve done this for other viruses in the past, and have been quite successful in helping companies get into the clinic faster,” said Steve Trevisan, president and CEO of Accelovance.
Trevisan says once a vaccine is developed, their job is to get information to manufacturers from clinical studies to better help them decide if the vaccine is ready for approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Outbreaks of Zika in Latin America and several cases in the United States recently put the virus in the spotlight.
While it may have mild or no symptoms in adults, the virus is being linked to a birth defect that’s left some newborn children with developmental issues involving the brain and head.
Dr. Stephan Bart, president and chief medical officer for Optimal Research, says the quickest way to come up with a vaccine is working with proven immunizations already being used.
“It’s important that we begin to look at available vaccines and see if they can be changed in a way to cause immunity to this new virus,” Bart said.
Bart said even though one hasn’t been completed yet, a vaccine is coming. He says his clinical laboratory is setting resources and space aside so they can begin testing it immediately.
Once the vaccine goes to clinical trials, volunteers will be found around the country to test it. Once an individual is given the vaccine, they will be monitored closely for several months, in some case more than a year.
Medical experts will look at the level of immunoglobulins or antibodies in the volunteer’s body to see if the vaccine is working.
“If you see a significant increase, you can infer that body would have the capability of fighting the infection if it was exposed to the virus,” Bart said.
In 60 to 90 days, the laboratory will have its first set of data to look at, so vaccine manufacturers can get a better idea of how well the immunizations work.
“The longer that we go without a potential solution, the more at risk unborn children would be,” Bart said.
The virus is spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which can be found in some southern U.S. states, such as Florida.
Since there is a live virus risk, labs in states with a Zika risk would most likely take part in a clinical study according to Bart.
