Clinical tests begin for needle-free Zika injection

World Today

After months of bickering, the U.S. Congress has committed more than a billion U.S. dollars to curbing the spread of the Zika virus.

After months of bickering, the U.S. Congress has committed more than a billion U.S. dollars to curbing the spread of the Zika virus.

That money will help fund research into the disease. For the first time, a needle-free drug injection device is being used in one clinical trial for a Zika vaccine in the U.S.

CCTV America’s Hendrik Sybrandy reports.

For years, vaccines have been administered with needles and some tears as well. Medical device-maker Pharmajet has developed a new way to overcome this process – its needle-free injector is now being used in 37 U.S. states and a handful of countries.

“It creates a precise stream of fluid, and that fluid is the vaccine, and the vaccine is what penetrates your skin and goes to the right tissue in the body,” said Chris Cappello, Pharmajet Chief Technology Officer.

“It’s fast, it’s pretty easy to do, and it’s safe,” Ron Lowy, Pharmajet chairman said.

Pharmajet was also very good at delivering DNA vaccines, which contain a small part of a virus’s genetic code. Those vaccines are injected into the arm muscle. That triggers the body to make virus proteins.”

A clinical trial of a DNA vaccine for the Zika virus is now underway. The U.S. National Institutes of Health is using this Pharmajet device on some 80 healthy volunteers.