1,500Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories announced Thursday it will advance development of an Ebola vaccine described by World Health Organization experts as the “most promising” candidate against a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nearly 1,500 people have died in the country from the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which no vaccines or treatments currently exist. Several efforts are underway to develop a vaccine for the previously rare strain as the outbreak worsens.
WHO experts have pointed to a single-dose vaccine built on the rVSV platform as the leading candidate, since it uses the same technology as Ervebo, the only officially licensed Ebola vaccine, which targets the Zaire strain rather than Bundibugyo.
Hilleman Laboratories, a joint venture between US pharmaceutical giant MSD (known as Merck in North America) and the British charity Wellcome Trust, said it would push the rVSV Bundibugyo vaccine toward human clinical trials. “We’re racing to develop a Bundibugyo vaccine and make doses for clinical trials,” said Hilleman CEO Raman Rao.MSD, which developed and manufactured Ervebo, will act as technical adviser, offering expertise on the rVSV platform, according to a joint statement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has committed funding to the project and other Ebola vaccine efforts.
Should early trials succeed and the vaccine gain authorisation, CEPI and Hilleman said they hope to ensure affordable, rapid supply of doses to outbreak-affected countries and low- and middle-income settings.
Unlike Ervebo, which requires ultra-low temperature storage, the new vaccine is expected to remain stable for months in ordinary refrigerators, making it cheaper and easier to distribute in remote areas. In May, WHO experts had cautioned it would take roughly seven to nine months before the rVSV vaccine could be ready for clinical trial assessment.
