UK tests new Ebola vaccine

The new vaccine will be tested on humans in the next few weeks, after being licensed by the MHRA. This is the first of four Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine candidates to enter clinical trials. Oxford University is recruiting healthy volunteers in the UK to receive the first doses.

According to Dr. Katrina Pollock, the trial plans to recruit 50 people 18-55 years old, and is preparing to expand to Uganda. Volunteers were followed for a year, but the team could soon assess immune response and side effects.

The vaccine was developed quickly thanks to the platform used for Oxford/AstraZeneca, using a chimpanzee cold virus that has been edited to not cause disease, playing the role of transporting the genetic code of Ebola Bundibugyo into the body. The vaccine does not cause Ebola infection but helps the body create viral proteins to activate immunity. The research team affirmed that they did not shorten the safety steps, only implementing many stages in parallel.

The candidate has been tested on mice and macaque monkeys, and is produced by the Serum Institute of India according to clinical standards with 620,000 reserved doses. Based on preclinical data, the MHRA authorized human trials.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine platform has been widely used but has a rare risk of blood clots (up to 1/100,000 people). The new Ebola vaccine may carry a similar risk, but is considered much lower than the danger of Ebola Bundibugyo. All risks will be clearly communicated to volunteers.

In addition to Oxford, there are three other candidates in development, including Moderna’s mRNA vaccine and two vaccines from IAVI and Public Health Vaccines, based on technology that was effective against another Ebola species but produced more slowly.