In light of the current scale of Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the global community is already expressing frustration over the length of time it is taking to develop and approve vaccines that could be used against the disease. NewLink Is a Canadian company that holds the license for developing and testing one the anticipated Ebola vaccines and it's Chief Executive Officer said that the company is doing everything that they can to have the products tested safely so that they can proceed to manufacturing sufficient quantities of the vaccine so that they can be used for the wide scale studies that are scheduled to be carried out within the affected countries early next year.
CEO Dr. Charles Link said in a statement, "There haven't been any delays. We couldn't go any faster without really doing things dangerously. I don't think humanity has ever tried to do something this complex, to be quite honest." He added that his team is moving "at warp speeds" to get the job done.
There has been speculation in the medical community about whether his company, small biotech firm that was dedicated to the development of cancer vaccines, has the necessary funding and experience to propel this crucial project forward. Earlier, Law professor Amir Attaran, suggested that the Canadian government terminate the companies license to produce Ebola vaccines or to get other manufacturers the go-ahead. It may be recalled that NewLink was the Company that developed and licensed the VSV-EBOV vaccine-one of only two experimental vaccines approved for use in recent clinical trials against the disease.
The pharmaceutical company said that they have a batch of vaccines that are already close to being ready. Representatives also said that they are now working with two European manufacturers to produce more, while also waiting for an American manufacturer that is set to help with the manufacturing process within the next couple of weeks. They expect to have between 60,000 and 70,000 vials of the experimental vaccine by the end of the year.
