Protecting unborn babies from Zika

A loan supported by the InnovFin-EU finance for innovators initiative under the EU's Horizon 2020 programme and extended by the European Investment Bank is helping France-based biotech company Valneva develop a Zika vaccine that is safe during pregnancy. This could protect unborn babies from birth defects linked to the mosquito-borne virus. Until recently, the Zika virus was not a priority since it affected relatively few people and the cost of creating a vaccine was estimated at EUR 149-468 million. But the spread of Zika in the Americas and discovery of a link with reduced head size and brain damage in babies of women infected while pregnant changed that.