Ebola Vaccine — Progress Made

With nearly 9000 people dead in the ongoing Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa, the desire for a preventive vaccine is likely at its highest ever. Now, a monovalent chimpanzee adenovirus type 3 vaccine that demonstrated efficacy in macaques (NEJM JW Infect Dis Oct 24 2014) has been assessed in phase I human trials at three sites (Oxford, U.K.; Lausanne, Switzerland; and Bamako, Mali). Data from the U.K. site have just been reported.

Fifty-nine healthy adults received a single intramuscular injection of vaccine at one of three dose levels (1×10¹⁰, 2.5×10¹⁰, or 5×10¹⁰ viral particles). Safety monitoring was done for 28 days following vaccination. Antibody responses were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and T-cell re…