Clinical trials for an experimental Ebola virus vaccine will be beginning shortly in Oxford. Initially, 60 healthy subjects who have volunteered for the program will be injected with the vaccine that contains genetic material from the virus. The vaccine itself is comprised of very small amounts of the virus, not enough to make the subjects contract the disease.
Typically, it takes years before any new drug is considered ready for human trials, but the World Health Organization has declared the situation in West Africa as a global health emergency, thus allowing the human trials for this vaccine have been fast-tracked. Once to the use of this vaccine has been approved, it can be used immediately to address the International requirement. This could potentially be the vaccine that protects health workers who are in the frontlines of the fight against Ebola and have the highest risk of being infected by the lethal virus. It's all goes well the vaccine that is being developed in cooperation by the pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, and the United States National Institutes of Health should be ready by the end of the year with around 10,000 doses available for dissemination.
Researchers from Oxford want to establish two things with the trials. One, that the vaccine is able to produce a sufficient immune response within the volunteers to combat the virus. And, two, that it delivers the required response with as a little side effects as possible. Lead researcher, Prof. Adrian Hill, said that, "This it is a remarkable example of how quickly a new vaccine can be progressed into the clinic, using international cooperation."
Blood samples will be taken from the volunteers within 2 to 4 weeks to analyze the extent of their antibody response. More volunteers from Africa will be taking part in the trial and receiving this particular vaccine next month. Meanwhile, another product with a different formulation will be tested in the United States during that period as well. If both vaccines are found to be successful, they can both be used after trials are over.
