Positive phase I data have been announced for an Ebola vaccine trial. | Courtesy of Shutterstock
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Amanda Rupp | May 3, 2016

Positive phase I data revealed for Ebola vaccine trial

A single worldwide public-private partnership recently published positive results and data from its phase I clinical trial for a vaccine that would protect people from the Ebola virus.

This is the first time that published clinical data have suggested that a prime-boost Ebola vaccine regimen bears positive results. The vaccine generated an antibody response among all of the healthy volunteers. There was a 100 percent success rate, with the antibody response still showing progress eight months after patients had been vaccinated.

“The Ebola crisis in West Africa left a huge human cost -- we continue to see flare-ups of this disease, and the world needs to be far better prepared for the next major outbreak,” Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer of Johnson & Johnson, said. “This study suggests that Janssen’s investigational prime-boost vaccine regimen, if approved by regulators, could be an important tool in global strategies to help prevent another Ebola epidemic.”

Unfortunately, there are many more details that must be resolved before Ebola can be fully addressed around the world.

“Recent evidence highlighting the persistence of the Ebola virus in bodily fluids, and the potential for sexual transmission from Ebola survivors, reinforce the importance of finding a robust and durable vaccine for this disease,” said Matthew Snape of the Oxford Vaccine Group, the study’s lead author. “These results show that an initial immune response with AdVac immunization is enhanced by MVA-BN boosting, generating sustained immunity that has the potential to provide durable protection from Ebola in at-risk populations.”

The partners include the University of Oxford, the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Inserm, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Bavarian Nordic and Europe’s Innovative Medicines Initiative.

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