Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Zydus Cadila announced a partnership to tackle chikungunya, an emerging infectious disease in Africa, Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In recent decades mosquito vectors of chikungunya have spread to Europe and the Americas.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA, there is currently no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat chikungunya virus infectionii. The chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, the same vectors that spread dengue and Zika.

Terms are not disclosed but the partnership agreement covers early stage development through the final commercialization of the vaccine.

Dr. Rahul Singhvi, Takeda Vaccines' Chief Operating Officer said: "Takeda is very pleased to work with Zydus Cadila. We are tackling the world's most urgent and neglected unmet medical needs together with our partners. Our belief is that chikungunya can be prevented with a vaccine, and that we can accelerate development through this Zydus partnership."

Speaking about this key development, Mr. Pankaj R. Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, Zydus group said, "We have always been committed to working with partners and collaborating to bring affordable therapies and bridge unmet healthcare needs. By working with Takeda on this very important research and development initiative and leveraging our development capabilities, we will be taking an all important step to prevent the disease burden which is highly prevalent in developing countries and causes suffering and disability."

Takeda's Dr. Singhvi added: "Takeda is at the center of important vaccine-related activities in global health and emerging infectious diseases. This is another demonstration of Takeda's major commitment to the health of people everywhere."