Three different Zika virus vaccines have been successfully tested on monkeys, it was announced last night.
The vaccines all achieved "complete" protection in rhesus monkeys, according to a report in the journal Science.
They said clinical trials should proceed "as quickly as possible."
The US researchers tested a purified inactivated virus, a plasmid DNA vaccine and an adenovirus vector-based vaccine.
During the study involving groups of eight and 12 monkeys, the animals were vaccinated and tested for antibodies. They were then exposed to the Brazilian strain of Zika but enjoyed full protection.
Professor Dan Barouch, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, said: "Three vaccines provided complete protection against Zika virus in nonhuman primates, which is the best animal model prior to starting clinical trials.
"The consistent and robust protection against Zika virus in both rodents and primates fuels our optimism about the development of a safe and effective Zika vaccine for humans."
P Abbink et al. Protective efficacy of multiple platforms against Zika virus challenge in rhesus monkeys. Science 4 August 2016; doi: 10.1126/science.aah6157
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