Ebola Vaccine
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Ebola vaccines are
vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity The adaptive immune system, also known as the acquired immune system, is a subsystem of the immune system that is composed of specialized, systemic cells and pro ...
either approved or in development to prevent
Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
. As of 2022, there are only vaccines against the
Zaire ebolavirus ''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus '' Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and o ...
. The first vaccine to be approved in the United States was
rVSV-ZEBOV Recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus–Zaire Ebola virus (rVSV-ZEBOV), also known as Ebola Zaire vaccine live and sold under the brand name Ervebo, is an Ebola vaccine for adults that prevents Ebola caused by the Zaire ebolavirus. When used ...
in December 2019. It had been used extensively in the
Kivu Ebola epidemic The Kivu Ebola epidemic was an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) that ravaged the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Central Africa from 2018 to 2020. Between 1 August 2018 and 25 June 2020 it resulted in 3,470 reported cases ...
under a
compassionate use Expanded access or compassionate use is the use of an unapproved drug or medical device under special forms of investigational new drug applications (IND) or IDE application for devices, outside of a clinical trial, by people with serious or life ...
protocol. During the early 21st century, several vaccine candidates displayed efficacy to protect nonhuman primates (usually
macaques The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of sociality, gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit species distribution, ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in barbary macaques ...
) against lethal infection. Vaccines include replication-deficient
adenovirus Adenoviruses (members of the family ''Adenoviridae'') are medium-sized (90–100 nm), nonenveloped (without an outer lipid bilayer) viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double-stranded DNA genome. Their name derives from the ...
vectors, replication-competent vesicular stomatitis (VSV) and human parainfluenza (HPIV-3) vectors, and virus-like
nanoparticle A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is usually defined as a particle of matter that is between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 1 ...
preparations. Conventional trials to study efficacy by exposure of humans to the pathogen after immunization are not ethical in this case. For such situations, the US
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
(FDA) has established the "
animal efficacy rule The Food and Drug Administration (United States), FDA animal efficacy rule (also known as animal rule) applies to Drug development, development and testing of drugs and biopharmaceutical, biologicals to reduce or prevent serious or life-threatening ...
" allowing licensure to be approved on the basis of
animal model An animal model (short for animal disease model) is a living, non-human, often genetic-engineered animal used during the research and investigation of human disease, for the purpose of better understanding the disease process without the risk of ha ...
studies that replicate human disease, combined with evidence of safety and a potentially potent
immune response An immune response is a reaction which occurs within an organism for the purpose of defending against foreign invaders. These invaders include a wide variety of different microorganisms including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi which could ...
(antibodies in the blood) from humans given the vaccine.
Clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
involve the administration of the vaccine to healthy human subjects to evaluate the immune response, identify any side effects and determine the appropriate dosage.


Approved


rVSV-ZEBOV

VSV-EBOV or
rVSV-ZEBOV Recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus–Zaire Ebola virus (rVSV-ZEBOV), also known as Ebola Zaire vaccine live and sold under the brand name Ervebo, is an Ebola vaccine for adults that prevents Ebola caused by the Zaire ebolavirus. When used ...
, sold under the brand name Ervebo, is a vaccine based on the vesicular stomatitis virus which was genetically modified to express a surface
glycoprotein Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycos ...
of Zaire Ebola virus. In November 2019, the European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorization. The WHO prequalification came fewer than 48 hours later, making it the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO. It was approved for medical use in the European Union in November 2019. Text was copied from this source which is © European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. It was approved for medical use in the United States in December 2019. The most common side effects include pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, headache, fever, muscle pain, tiredness and joint pain. In general, these reactions occur within seven days after vaccination, are mild to moderate in intensity and resolved in less than a week. It was developed by the
Public Health Agency of Canada The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC; french: Agence de la santé publique du Canada, ASPC) is an agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic diseas ...
, with development subsequently taken over by Merck Inc. In October 2014, the
Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...
, who was also one of the biggest UK founders, announced the start of multiple trials in healthy volunteers in Europe, Gabon, Kenya, and the US. The vaccine was proven safe at multiple sites in North America, Europe, and Africa, but several volunteers at one trial site in Geneva, Switzerland, developed vaccine-related arthritis after about two weeks, and about 20–30% of volunteers at reporting sites developed low-grade post-vaccine fever, which resolved within a day or two. Other common side-effects were pain at the site of injection, myalgia, and fatigue. The trial was temporarily halted in December 2014 due to possible adverse effects, but subsequently resumed. , a Phase III trial with a single dose of VSV-EBOV began in Liberia after a successful Phase II study in the West African country. On 31 July 2015, preliminary results of a Phase III trial in Guinea indicated that the vaccine appeared to be "highly efficacious and safe." The trial used a
ring vaccination Ring vaccination is a strategy to inhibit the spread of a disease by vaccinating those who are most likely to be infected. This strategy vaccinates the contacts of confirmed patients, and people who are in close contact with those contacts. Thi ...
protocol that first vaccinated all the closest contacts of new cases of Ebola infection either immediately or after 21 days. Because of the demonstrated efficacy of immediate vaccination, all recipients will now be immunized immediately. Ring vaccination is the method used in the program to eradicate
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
in the 1970s. The trial will continue to assess whether the vaccine is effective in creating
herd immunity Herd immunity (also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity, or mass immunity) is a form of indirect protection that applies only to contagious diseases. It occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population has become imm ...
to Ebola virus infection. In December 2016, a study found the VSV-EBOV vaccine to be 95–100% effective against the Ebola virus, making it the first proven vaccine against the disease. The approval was supported by a study conducted in Guinea during the 2014–2016 outbreak in individuals 18 years of age and older. The study was a randomized cluster (ring) vaccination study in which 3,537 contacts, and contacts of contacts, of individuals with laboratory-confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) received either "immediate" or 21-day "delayed" vaccination. This design was intended to capture a social network of individuals and locations that might include dwellings or workplaces where a patient spent time while symptomatic, or the households of individuals who had contact with the patient during that person's illness or death. In a comparison of cases of EVD among 2,108 individuals in the "immediate" vaccination arm and 1,429 individuals in the "delayed" vaccination arm, Ervebo was determined to be 100% effective in preventing Ebola cases with symptom onset greater than ten days after vaccination. No cases of EVD with symptom onset greater than ten days after vaccination were observed in the "immediate" cluster group, compared with ten cases of EVD in the 21-day "delayed" cluster group. In additional studies, antibody responses were assessed in 477 individuals in Liberia, some 500 individuals in Sierra Leone, and about 900 individuals in Canada, Spain, and the US. The antibody responses among those in the study conducted in Canada, Spain and the US were similar to those among individuals in the studies conducted in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The safety was assessed in approximately 15,000 individuals in Africa, Europe, and North America. The most commonly reported side effects were pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, as well as headache, fever, joint and muscle aches and fatigue. In December 2016, a study found the VSV-EBOV vaccine to be 70–100% effective against the Ebola virus, making it the first proven vaccine against the disease. However, the design of this study and the high efficacy of the vaccine were questioned. In November 2019, the European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorization to Ervebo (rVSV∆G-ZEBOV-GP, live) and the WHO prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time.


Zabdeno/Mvabea

The two-dose regimen of Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, sold under the brand names Zabdeno and Mvabea, was developed by
Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
at its
Janssen Pharmaceutica Janssen Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly-owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Pharmaceuticals was purchased by New Jersey-based American ...
l company. It was approved for medical use in the European Union in July 2020. The regimen consists of two vaccine components (first vaccine as prime, followed by a second vaccine as boost) - the first based on AdVac technology from
Crucell Janssen Vaccines, formerly Crucell, is a biotechnology company specializing in vaccines and biopharmaceutical technologies. It was formed when Johnson & Johnson acquired the Dutch biotech company Crucell based in Leiden and placed it in their ph ...
Holland B.V. (which is part of Janssen), the second based on the MVA-BN technology from Bavarian Nordic. The Ad26.ZEBOV is derived from human adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) expressing the Ebola virus Mayinga variant glycoprotein, while the second component MVA-BN is the Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara – Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) Filo-vector. This product commenced Phase I
clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
at the
Jenner Institute The Jenner Institute is a research institute on the Old Road Campus in Headington, east Oxford, England. It was formed in November 2005 through a partnership between the University of Oxford and the UK Institute for Animal Health. It is ass ...
in Oxford during January 2015. The preliminary data indicated the prime-boost vaccine regimen elicited temporary immunologic response in the volunteers as expected from vaccination. The Phase II trial enrolled 612 adult volunteers and commenced in July 2015, in the United Kingdom and France. A second Phase II trial, involving 1,200 volunteers, was initiated in Africa with the first trial commenced in Sierra Leone in October 2015. In September 2019, the
Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), formerly known as Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP), is the European Medicines Agency's committee responsible for elaborating the agency's opinions on all issues regarding ...
(CHMP) of the
European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products or Euro ...
(EMA) granted an accelerated assessment to Janssen for Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, and in November 2019, Janssen submitted a
Marketing Authorization Application Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) is an application submitted by a drug manufacturer seeking marketing authorisation, that is permission to bring a medicinal product (for example, a new medicine or generic medicine) to the market. MAA is pa ...
(MAA) to the EMA for approval of Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo. In May 2020, the EMA CHMP recommended granting a marketing authorization for the combination of Ad26.ZEBOV (Zabdeno) and MVA-BN-Filo (Mvabea) vaccines. Text was copied from this source which is © European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. Zabdeno is given first and Mvabea is administered approximately eight weeks later as a booster. This prophylactic two-dose regimen is therefore not suitable for an outbreak response where immediate protection is necessary. As a precautionary measure for individuals at imminent risk of exposure to Ebola virus (for example healthcare professionals and those living in or visiting areas with an ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak), an extra Zabdeno booster vaccination should be considered for individuals who completed the Zabdeno-Mvabea two-dose vaccination regimen more than four months ago. Efficacy for humans is not yet known as the efficacy has been extrapolated from animal studies.


Ad5-EBOV

In late 2014 and early 2015, a double-blind, randomized Phase I trial was conducted in the
Jiangsu Province Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
of China; the trial examined a vaccine that contains
glycoprotein Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycos ...
s of the 2014 strain, rather than those of the 1976 strain. The trial found signals of efficacy and raised no significant safety concerns. In 2017, the
China Food and Drug Administration The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA, , formerly the China Food and Drug Administration, or CFDA) was founded on the basis of the former State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). In March 2013, the former regulatory body was rebra ...
(CFDA) announced approval of an Ebola vaccine, co-developed by the Institute of Biotechnology of the
Academy of Military Medical Sciences The Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) of the PLA Academy of Military Science () is a Chinese military medical research institute. It was established in Shanghai in 1951. It has been based in Beijing since 1958. In October 2011 the drug ...
and the private vaccine-maker
CanSino Biologics CanSino Biologics (), often abbreviated as CanSinoBIO, is a Chinese vaccine company. History CanSino Biologics was founded in 2009 in Tianjin by Yu Xuefeng, Zhu Tao, Qiu Dongxu and Helen Mao Huihua. In July 2018, it filed an application to l ...
. It contains a human
adenovirus Adenoviruses (members of the family ''Adenoviridae'') are medium-sized (90–100 nm), nonenveloped (without an outer lipid bilayer) viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double-stranded DNA genome. Their name derives from the ...
serotype 5 vector (Ad5) with the glycoprotein gene from ZEBOV. Their findings were consistent with previous tests on rVSV-ZEBOV in Africa and Europe.


In development


cAd3-EBO Z

In September 2014, two Phase I clinical trials began for the vaccine cAd3-EBO Z, which is based on an attenuated version of a chimpanzee
adenovirus Adenoviruses (members of the family ''Adenoviridae'') are medium-sized (90–100 nm), nonenveloped (without an outer lipid bilayer) viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double-stranded DNA genome. Their name derives from the ...
(cAd3) that has been genetically altered so that it is unable to replicate in humans. The cAd3 vector has a DNA fragment insert that encodes the Ebola virus glycoprotein, which is expressed on the virion surface and is critical for attachment to host cells and catalysis of membrane fusion. It was developed by
NIAID The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, ) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID' ...
in collaboration with Okairos, now a division of
GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...
. For the trial designated VRC 20, 20 volunteers were recruited by the NIAID in Bethesda, Maryland, while three dose-specific groups of 20 volunteers each were recruited for trial EBL01 by University of Oxford, UK. Initial results were released in November 2014; all 20 volunteers developed antibodies against Ebola and there were no significant concerns raised about safety. In December 2014, University of Oxford expanded the trial to include a booster vaccine based on MVA-BN, a strain of
Modified vaccinia Ankara Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) is an attenuated (weakened) strain of the vaccinia virus. It is being used as a vaccine (called MVA-BN, brand names: Imvanex in the EU, Imvamune in Canada, and Jynneos in the US) against smallpox and monkeypox, havi ...
, developed by Bavarian Nordic, to investigate whether it can help increase immune responses further. The trial which has enrolled a total of 60 volunteers will see 30 volunteers vaccinated with the booster vaccine. , Phase III trial with a single dose of cAd3-EBO Z begins in Sierra Leone after a successful Phase 2 study in West Africa countries.


Ebola GP vaccine

At the 8th Vaccine and ISV Conference in Philadelphia on 27−28 October 2014,
Novavax Novavax, Inc. is an American biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg, Maryland that develops vaccines to counter serious infectious diseases. Prior to 2020, company scientists developed experimental vaccines for influenza and respiratory s ...
Inc. reported the development in a "few weeks" of a
glycoprotein Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycos ...
(GP)
nanoparticle A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is usually defined as a particle of matter that is between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 1 ...
Ebola virus (EBOV GP) vaccine using their proprietary recombinant technology. A recombinant protein is a protein whose code is carried by
recombinant DNA Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be foun ...
. The vaccine is based on the newly published genetic sequence of the 2014 Guinea Ebola (Makona) strain that is responsible for the 2014 Ebola disease epidemic in West Africa. In animal studies, a useful immune response was induced and was found to be enhanced ten to a hundred-fold by the company's "Matrix-M"
immunologic adjuvant In immunology, an adjuvant is a substance that increases or modulates the immune response to a vaccine. The word "adjuvant" comes from the Latin word ''adiuvare'', meaning to help or aid. "An immunologic adjuvant is defined as any substance that ...
. A study of the response of non-human primate to the vaccine had been initiated. , Novavax had completed two primate studies on baboons and macaques and had initiated a Phase I clinical trial in Australia. The Lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-encapsulated
siRNA Small interfering RNA (siRNA), sometimes known as short interfering RNA or silencing RNA, is a class of double-stranded RNA at first non-coding RNA molecules, typically 20-24 (normally 21) base pairs in length, similar to miRNA, and operating wi ...
s rapidly adapted to target the Makona outbreak strain of EBOV and are able to protect 100% of
rhesus monkeys The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally b ...
against lethal challenge when treatment was initiated at three days post-exposure while animals were viremic and clinically ill. The top line Phase I human trial results showed that the adjuvanted Ebola GP Vaccine was highly immunogenic at all dose levels.


Nasal vaccine

On 5 November 2014, the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'' reported that a research team at the
University of Texas-Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
was developing a nasal spray Ebola vaccine, which the team had been working on for seven years. The team reported in 2014, that in the nonhuman primate studies it conducted, the vaccine had more efficacy when delivered via nasal spray than by injection. , further development by the team appeared unlikely due to lack of funding.


Vaxart tablet

Vaxart Inc. is developing a vaccine technology in the form of a temperature-stable tablet which may offer advantages such as reduced
cold chain A cold chain is a low temperature-controlled supply chain network. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain qu ...
requirement, and rapid and scalable manufacturing. In January 2015, Vaxart announced that it had secured funding to develop its Ebola vaccine to Phase I trial.


Attenuated Ebola virus vaccine

A study published in ''
Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
'' during March 2015, demonstrated that vaccination with a weakened form of the Ebola virus provides some measure of protection to non-human primates. This study was conducted in accordance with a protocol approved by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the National Institutes of Health. The new vaccine relies on a strain of Ebola called EBOVΔVP30, which is unable to replicate.


GamEvac-Combi

A study published in '' Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics'' in March 2017, analyzing data from a clinical trial of the GamEvac-Combi vaccine in Russia, concluded said vaccine to be safe and effective and recommended proceeding to Phase III trials.


Prospects

In September 2019, a study published in ''
Cell Reports ''Cell Reports'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research papers across a broad range of disciplines within the life sciences. The journal was established in 2012 and is the first open access journal published by Cell Press, an imp ...
'' demonstrated the role of the Ebola virus VP35 protein in its immune evasion. A recombinant form of Ebola virus with a mutant VP35 protein (VP35m) was developed, and showed positive results in the activation of the RIG-I-like receptor signaling. Non-human primates were challenged with different doses of VP35. This challenge resulted in the activation of the innate immune system and the production of anti-EBOV antibodies. The primates were then back-challenged with the wild type Ebola virus and survived. This potentially creates a prospect for a future vaccine development.


Clinical trials in West Africa

In January 2015, Marie-Paule Kieny, the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
's (WHO) assistant director-general of health systems and innovation, announced that the vaccines cAd3-EBO Z and VSV-EBOV had demonstrated acceptable safety profiles during early testing and would soon progress to large-scale trials in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. The trials would involve up to 27,000 people and comprise three groups – members of the first two groups would receive the two candidate vaccines, while the third group will receive a
placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...
. Both vaccines have since successfully completed the
Phase 2 Michael Lawrence Marrow (August 2, 1955 – December 12, 2019), known as PHASE 2 and Lonny Wood, was an American aerosol paint artist based in New York City. Mostly active in the 1970s, Phase 2 is generally credited with originating the "bubble l ...
studies. The large scale Phase 3 studies have begun , in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and in Guinea in March 2016. In addition, a medical anthropologist at
Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...
, had been working in Guinea and raised further questions about safety in the ring trial after spending time in April at one of the Ebola treatment units where trial participants are taken if they become ill, the centre in Coyah, about 50km from the capital of Conakry. The
Russian Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; russian: Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации, МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with lea ...
announced in 2016, the intention to conduct field trials of two Russian vaccines involving 2000 people. According to local media reports, the Guinean government authorized the commencement of the trials on 9 August 2017, at the
Rusal United Company RUSAL, international public joint-stock company (russian: МКПАО «ОК РУСАЛ», MKPAO «ОК RUSAL») is the world's second largest aluminium company by primary production output (as of 2016). It was the largest until ov ...
-built Research and Diagnostic Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in
Kindia Kindia ( N’ko: ߞߌ߲ߘߌߦߊ߫) is the fourth largest city in Guinea, lying about 85 miles northeast of the nation's capital, Conakry. Its estimated population in 2008 was 181,126. Kindia serves as the capital and largest city of Kindia Prefe ...
. The trials were slated to continue until 2018. As of October 2019, Russia licensed the vaccine by local regulatory authorities and was reportedly ready to ship vaccine to Africa.


U.S. national stockpile

In 2014,
Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
estimated that the U.S. government will provide over $1billion in contracts to companies to develop medicine and vaccines for Ebola virus disease. Congress passed a law in 2004 that funds a national stockpile of vaccines and medicine for possible outbreaks of disease. A number of companies were expected to develop Ebola vaccines:
GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...
, NewLink Genetics,
Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
, and Bavarian Nordic. Another company,
Emergent BioSolutions Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is an American multinational specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It develops vaccines and antibody therapeutics for infectious diseases and opioid overdoses, and it provides me ...
, was a contestant for manufacturing new doses of
ZMapp ZMapp is an experimental biopharmaceutical drug comprising three chimeric monoclonal antibodies under development as a treatment for Ebola virus disease. Two of the three components were originally developed at the Public Health Agency of Canada ...
, a drug for Ebola virus disease treatment originally developed by
Mapp Biopharmaceutical Mapp Biopharmaceutical is an American pharmaceutical company founded in 2003 by Larry Zeitlin and Kevin Whaley. Mapp Biopharmaceutical is based in San Diego, California. It is responsible for the research and development of ZMapp, a drug which is ...
. Supplies of ZMapp ran out in August 2014. In September 2014, the
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) office responsible for the procurement and development of medical countermeasures, principally against bioterrorism, in ...
(BARDA) entered into a multimillion-dollar contract with Mapp Biopharmaceutical to accelerate the development of ZMapp. Additional contracts were signed in 2017.


See also

*
Ebola virus disease Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...
*
Ebola virus disease treatment research There is no cure or specific treatment for the Ebola virus disease that is currently approved for market, although various experimental treatments are being developed. For past and current Ebola epidemics, treatment has been primarily supportiv ...


References


Further reading

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External links

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