HHS to pay Japanese company $20 million to speed Zika vaccine

Healthcare IT News: The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response announced September 1 it would disburse an initial $19.8 million over the next 18 months to Deerfield, Ill.-based Takeda Vaccines to accelerate the development of a Zika vaccine for the United States.

Takeda Vaccines is a subsidiary of the Takeda Group headquartered in Japan and one the largest pharmaceutical companies in Japan and Asia. Takeda has vaccine programs for dengue, Chikungunya, norovirus, polio and pandemic influenza. Manufacturing of the Zika vaccine will occur at Takeda’s facilities in Hikari, Japan.

Read article