US Army and France’s Sanofi combine work on Zika vaccine

In this Feb. 11, 2016 file photo of aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen in a mosquito cage at a laboratory in Cucuta, Colombia. An experimental vaccine for the Zika virus is due to begin human testing in coming weeks, after getting the green light from U.S. health officials. AP

PARIS — Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi says it is joining efforts with U.S. Army researchers to speed up development of a potential Zika vaccine.

France-based Sanofi SA said in a statement Wednesday that the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research will transfer its Zika vaccine technology to Sanofi Pasteur, the company’s vaccine arm. Sanofi views the agreement as “opening the door for a broader collaboration with the U.S. government.”

Financial details were not disclosed.

Vaccine development usually takes years. Sanofi made the first vaccine shot against dengue — which is related to Zika — but it required 20 years of development and $1 billion. Sanofi and U.S. researchers are trying to leverage experience with related viruses to accelerate work on Zika amid the current outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus across the Americas. TVJ