Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in pregnancy is associated with adverse fetal outcomes, such as microcephaly and other congenital malformations. No therapeutic options are available to pregnant women with ZIKV infection to prevent these effects. Drug trials in pregnancy raise several scientific, ethical, and logistic challenges, which are compounded further in ZIKV because of limited knowledge of the disease pathophysiology and a product development pipeline in its infancy. We evaluate the major challenges in choosing therapeutics to prevent congenital ZIKV disease and conducting clinical trials of these treatments, with a focus on preventing congenital central nervous system malformations. These challenges must be characterized and planned for now so that clinical trials can progress expediently and effectively in the future.
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Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
Authors:
Alex P. Salam,
From University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Acknowledgment: The authors thank Emmanuelle Denis for the figure.
Grant Support: Peter Horby is supported by the Wellcome Trust of Great Britain (grants 107834/Z/15/Z and 106491/Z/14/Z), European Union FP7 project PREPARE (Platform for European Preparedness Against [Re-]emerging Epidemics; grant 602525), and Medical Research Council UK (MC_PC_15001). Dr. Rojek is funded by a Rhodes Scholarship.
Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M16-2530.
Corresponding Author: Alex Salam, MBChB, MSc, Epidemic Diseases Research Group Oxford, Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine Research Building, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7FZ, United Kingdom; e-mail, alexsalam@doctors.
Current Author Addresses: Drs. Salam, Rojek, Dunning, and Horby: Epidemic Diseases Research Group Oxford, Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine Research Building, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7FZ, United Kingdom.
Author Contributions: Conception and design: A.P. Salam, A. Rojek, J. Dunning, P.W. Horby.
Analysis and interpretation of the data: A.P. Salam, A. Rojek.
Drafting of the article: A.P. Salam, A. Rojek, J. Dunning, P.W. Horby.
Critical revision for important intellectual content: A.P. Salam, A. Rojek, J. Dunning, P.W. Horby.
Final approval of the article: A.P. Salam, A. Rojek, J. Dunning, P.W. Horby.
Collection and assembly of data: A.P. Salam, A. Rojek.
This article was published at Annals.org on 21 March 2017.
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