Right after the World Health Organization announced the ethical use of previously untested vaccines for the global health emergency that is the Ebola virus, multiple pharmaceutical companies have been put to work to develop and manufacture drugs that could be used against the most lethal outbreak of Ebola virus to date.
In a recent report, it was announced that two of the vaccines that the WHO has endorsed as having showed promising results for providing reliable and effective immunization against the Ebola virus will not be ready for clinical testing until first quarter of 2015. The World Health Organization said that the vaccines will undergo clinical trials by March of next year. The Organization has already said that vaccine development is an expensive and time-consuming process, explaining in a statement that, "Even in best conditions and with the huge effort of many involved, a significant number of doses will not be available until the first quarter of 2015. The aim is to complete, in a few months, the work that usually takes 2 to 4 years, without compromising international standards for safety and effectiveness."
One of the two vaccines in question is cAd3-ZEBOV, which is being developed by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline in collaboration with the National Institute of allergies and infectious diseases in the United States. The other is rVSV- ZEBOV that is being developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada but whose marketing license is with NewLink Genetics, which is an American company.
The World Health Organization is optimistic that the development and eventual dissemination of these vaccines will be a significant factor in the fight against Ebola. During the last six months, the virus has infected more than 6,500 people, with over 3,000 deaths reported in the countries of Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
