Scientists take the sting out of Ebola with new vaccine

Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director General for Health Systems and Innovation of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland PHOTO: STANDARD

A vaccine against Ebola has been unveiled. The new vaccine, whose trials were done in Guinea, was developed by Merck and Co, a pharmaceutical company.

Tests have shown that the vaccine offers protection against Ebola by up to 100 per cent.

The vaccine has been accepted for review by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for emergency use assessment and listing.

Dubbed the Ebola Zaire vaccine V920, expectations are that it will offer much-needed cushion against the virus. According to WHO, 28,616 Ebola cases have been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. About 11,310 deaths were also reported during the 2014-2015 outbreak.

Merck’s vice president for clinical research, Paula Annunziato said: “This application to the WHO is an important step toward enabling V920 to be used if a public health emergency of international concern were to be declared for the Ebola Zaire species prior to licensure of the vaccine candidate.”

During the study, 11,000 people were put on trial. Those who received a shot of the vaccine in the final stage of the study did not report any cases of Ebola even after an incubation for period of 10 days.

The study offers a reprieve for Africa, which has suffered the ravages of Ebola, especially West Africa.

The study’s lead author, Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General for health systems and innovation at WHO, said: “While these compelling results come too late for those who lost their lives during West Africa’s Ebola epidemic, they show that when the next Ebola outbreak hits, we will not be defenseless.”

Before the vaccine is approved for commercial distribution, it will have to be subjected to studies regarding quality, safety; efficacy and effectiveness; as well as the risk and benefit analysis for emergency use.
However, 300,000 doses of the virus are in stock in case of an outbreak again.

Initially engineered by scientists from Canada by the Public Health Agency, the V920 was licensed to Newlink Genetic Corporation at a time when the Ebola outbreak had hit its peak.

Clinical trials are going on in USA, Canada, the European Union and Africa.

During the last outbreak, Kenya put in place stringent measures to prevent an outbreak.