The Ebola vaccine has been safety tested
on 200 volunteers so far
The first batch of an
experimental vaccine against Ebola is on its way to Liberia.
The shipment will be the first potentially preventative medicine
to reach one of the hardest hit countries.
But experts say that, with Ebola cases falling, it may be
difficult to establish whether the jab offers any protection against
the virus.
It has been produced by British company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and
the US National Institutes of Health.
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“Start Quote
Because case numbers are starting to
come down it will become harder and harder to show if the
vaccine is having any impact”
Prof Jonathan Ball
Nottingham Univeristy
Meaningful protection
GSK said a plane carrying some 300 initial
doses of the vaccine was expected to arrive in Monrovia on Friday.
And the company hopes the first volunteer will be immunised in
the next few weeks.
The chief executive of GSK, Sir Andrew Witty, said the pace of
development was almost unparalleled and was comparable to only the
development of a pandemic flu vaccine or new medicines for HIV.
He told the BBC: "As an example we have delayed two other vaccine
development programmes to free up the space to do this work, so this
has come with a significant amount of disruption."
Scientists aim to involve 30,000 volunteers in the trial in
total, including frontline health workers.
If all regulations are met, 10,000 volunteers will be given the
GSK vaccine.
A matching number will get a placebo, dummy vaccine. And there
are plans for a further 10,000 people to get a separate experimental
jab.
The results will be compared to see if either vaccine offers any
meaningful protection against the virus.
A version of the vaccine has already been tested on 200 healthy
volunteers across the UK, US, Switzerland and Mali.
GSK says it has been found to have an acceptable safety profile
so far.
But it is only in affected countries that experts can determine
whether it provides adequate protection against the virus.
The virus is spread through close
contact with infected bodily fluids
Dr Moncef Slaoui, of GlaxoSmithKline said: "Shipping the vaccine
today is a major achievement and shows that we remain on track with
the accelerated development of our candidate Ebola vaccine.
"The initial phase one data we have seen are encouraging and give
us confidence to progress to the next phases of clinical testing."
Falling opportunities
The company stresses the vaccine is still in development and the
World Health Organization, and other regulators, would have to be
satisfied the vaccine is both safe and effective before any mass
immunisation campaigns could be considered.
Field trials of other promising vaccines - for example one
involving the company Merck - are planned in Guinea, Liberia and
Sierra Leone in the months to come.
And there are reports that a trial of an experimental drug called
Zmapp might start in the next few weeks.
However, experts say with the number of Ebola cases falling
opportunities to test vaccines and drugs could be limited.
Prof Jonathan Ball, a virus expert based at Nottingham
University, told the BBC: "Because case numbers are starting to come
down it will become harder and harder to show if the vaccine is
having any impact.
"Ultimately we may be in position in a few months time where we
don't know whether this vaccine is effective in humans.
"But it is important to get answers if we can - if not for this
outbreak, for future outbreaks. We need to be prepared."
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