Developing an effective vaccine targeting Ebola virus disease. We are part of an international consortium assessing the safety and efficacy of a novel Ebola virus vaccine.
Early in 2014, an outbreak of Ebola virus occurred in West Africa. Unlike previous outbreaks of the virus, it spread beyond the immediate epicentre and went on to infect in excess of 23,000 people. There is currently no approved vaccine or therapy for this virus and, in August 2014, the World Health Organisation declared a public health emergency and fast tracked research into preventative measures to combat Ebola virus disease. We are working as part of an international consortium, VEBCON, on clinical trials of a novel vaccine with the aim of immunising vaccine recipients. Our tasks at St. George’s include looking at levels of the vaccine in the vaccinee’s blood and monitoring immune response indicators. The vaccine itself is rVSVdeltaG-ZEBOV-GP; a replicating viral vector carrying the surface protein of the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus. While the vaccine is a live-attenuated vector, it cannot cause Ebola virus disease as it lacks the majority of the Ebola virus components. Initial phase I safety studies conducted at multiple sites have been successfully completed and vaccinations are already underway in a phase III clinical trail to determine efficacy in a wider population.
Parallel VEBCON (VSV‐EBola CONsortium) trials were initiated in Europe and Africa:
Hamburg, Germany (NCT02283099)
Geneva, Switzerland (NCT02287480)
Kilifi, Kenya (NCT02296983)
Lambaréné, Gabon (PACTR201411000919191)
Side sections key collaborators/sites
Peter Kremsner at the University of Tübingen, Seligi Agnanji CERMEL, Lambarene, Gabon Newlink genetics World Health Organisation