It may seem as if the Ebola infection has slowed down over the last few weeks, that doesn't mean everyone should be complacent. More than anything, we need a cure. Fortunately it looks like one company is already on its way to doing that.
Johnson & Johnson is set to start the phase 1 of the clinical trial for its vaccine. A department of Oxford, the Vaccine Group, will serve as the lead for this study. They have already identified the initial volunteers and have received their doses. They are still finding more recruits until the last week of January. Overall, they need a total of around 72 volunteers.
The phase 1 of the clinical trial is meant to determine the tolerability and safety level of the vaccine which is a prime boost, which is meant to enhance immunity against the virus. It is expected that the vaccine will be given in separate but successive doses.
Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, which is developing the Ebola vaccine, has also produced over 400,000 prime boost vaccine regimens for a bigger clinical trial three months from now. This will be accomplished with
Bavarian Nordic A/S.
It's expected that these regimens will reach 2 million but may reach to even 5 million, which is more than what Janssen quoted for 2015.
According to Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky, all these efforts are an affirmation of their position as the leader in global health. And as a leader, it's their duty to make sure they can promptly address the need of Ebola patients and health workers especially those who are in West Africa, which registers the highest number of cases and death in the latest outbreak.
The expected regimens, nevertheless, may not be sufficient if we're getting them from Johnson & Johnson alone especially since the demand is 2 million for three of the hardest-hit countries in West Africa alone. Health workers who are in the front lines also have to be vaccinated, which may then increase the demand by at least a hundred thousand doses.
