Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Asia's largest drugmaker, has assembled an internal team to look into how it might contribute to vaccine efforts to combat the Zika virus, the mosquito-borne pathogen that is currently spreading through the Americas.

The company has been in contact with several global health organizations, Rajeev Venkayya, president of the Japanese company's vaccine business unit said in an interview. He did not specify whether it was planning its own vaccine. The eight-person team will be led by Venkayya, who was previously a special assistant to U.S. President George W. Bush for biodefense at the White House.

The Osaka-based company already has vaccine programs that combat diseases in the same virus family as Zika. It will begin late-stage trials on its dengue fever vaccine this year. Both viruses are spread by the same species of mosquito and share similar symptoms.