Merck-NewLink
Ebola vaccine Phase III trial to start March 7
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[March 05, 2015]
GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - Final
stage of testing of an experimental Ebola vaccine being developed by
Merck and NewLink Genetics will begin in Guinea on March 7, the World
Health Organization said on Thursday.
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Signaling global health authorities' determination to push ahead
with vaccine trials despite a sharp drop in cases in the West Africa
epidemic, the WHO said a second shot, developed by GlaxoSmithKline
will be tested "in a sequential study, as supply becomes available".
More than 23,900 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola have been
reported since the outbreak began in December 2013, including some
9,800 deaths. Nearly 500 health workers have been among the dead in
what is the worst Ebola epidemic in history.
All three worst-hit countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -
aim to conduct Phase III final-stage clinical trials of experimental
vaccines. Liberia is already testing both the GlaxoSmithKline and
Merck-NewLink vaccines, while Sierra Leone is expected to announce
plans soon.
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But a steep decline in new Ebola cases in recent weeks will make it
far harder to prove whether experimental vaccines work, as the
vaccine's effect will be hard to establish.
However Margaret Chan, the WHO's Director-General, signaled her
determination.
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"There has been massive mobilization on the part of the affected
countries and all partners to accelerate the development and
availability of proven interventions," she said in a statement.
"If a vaccine is found effective, it will be the first preventive
tool against Ebola in history."
(Reporting by Tom Miles and Kate Kelland; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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