The prototype jab was developed between 2016 and 2022, in the wake of a Zika epidemic in South America, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
So far, it has been tested on animals and can become the world's first official vaccine against the Zika virus, according to experts.
The Polish prototype anti-Zika jab "allows the human body to better protect itself against being infected by the Zika virus," said Ewelina Król, who was in charge of the research team.
"The effectiveness of the developed anti-gene" has been tested on mice, and the substance requires further pre-clinical and clinical trials on humans to be approved as a vaccine, she added.
The prototype has been patented with Poland's Patents Office, the PAP news agency reported.
The Zika virus is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus), according to America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus and infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects, according to doctors.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, University of Gdańsk, CDC
