NIH speeds efforts to test vaccine against Ebola
September / October 2014 | Volume 13, Issue 5
Image courtesy of NIAID
Initial human testing of an investigational vaccine to prevent Ebola virus disease began this month at NIH, led by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The early stage trial of a vaccine codeveloped by NIAID and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will evaluate the experimental vaccine's safety and ability to generate an immune response in healthy adults. Another candidate Ebola vaccine developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada and licensed to NewLink Genetics Corporation will begin trials in the fall.
In parallel, NIH has partnered with a British-based international consortium that includes the Wellcome Trust, Britain's Medical Research Council and the U.K. Department for International Development to test the NIAID/GSK vaccine among healthy volunteers in the United Kingdom and in West Africa.
Additionally, the CDC has initiated discussions with Ministry of Health officials in Nigeria about the prospects for conducting a phase 1 safety study of the vaccine among healthy adults in that country.
To view Adobe PDF files,
download current, free accessible plug-ins from Adobe's website.