When a leading vaccine manufacturer announced earlier this month that it was pulling out of the race to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, it effectively shelved what was widely considered to be one of front-running candidates. Along with the dramatic drop in the
When a leading vaccine manufacturer announced earlier this month that it was pulling out of the race to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, it effectively shelved what was widely considered to be one of front-running candidates. Along with the dramatic drop in the number of new cases of Zika in recent months, does this signal that the threat has now passed, or does it mean we are now no closer to a vaccine should a resurgence of the disease eventually occur?
Neither, in fact. When Zika does start to spread again, which seems likely, the loss of this one vaccine is unfortunate, particularly because it is from a major manufacturer. But there are numerous other Zika vaccine candidates currently in the works.
While it’s not entirely clear what lies behin