UK scientists developing Ebola vaccine that could be ready for trials in months

Researchers at Oxford University are advancing a new vaccine candidate aimed at addressing the ongoing Ebola outbreak, with hopes that it could enter clinical trials within the next two to three months. The current epidemic, centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has led to around 750 suspected infections and 177 fatalities. This outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rare variant known for having no validated vaccine and a mortality rate of approximately one-third among those infected.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently intensified the risk level associated with this Ebola outbreak, raising the threat from “high” to “very high” within the DRC. In surrounding regions, the risk has also been classified as high, while on an international scale, it remains low. Earlier this week, WHO declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern but emphasized that this does not constitute a pandemic. Alongside Oxford’s vaccine, another experimental Bundibugyo-targeted vaccine is under development, although it is not expected to be ready for trials until six to nine months from now.

The vaccine developed at Oxford uses a platform technology originally created during the Covid-19 pandemic, called ChAdOx1. This adaptable technology involves a genetically modified chimpanzee adenovirus, altered to be safe for humans, which can be engineered to target different pathogens by delivering genetic instructions to the immune system. In this case, the vaccine carries the genetic code specific to the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, enabling the body’s immune cells to recognize and protect against the infection. Importantly, the vaccine itself does not cause Ebola or any disease symptoms but primes the immune response. However, the WHO has pointed out there is currently no animal data confirming the efficacy of this vaccine, and its potential will only be realized after further animal testing and clinical trial evaluations.

At present, animal studies are underway at Oxford, while the Serum Institute of India has been designated for large-scale production once Oxford can supply appropriate clinical-grade vaccine material. Professor Lambe, who leads vaccine immunology efforts at Oxford, highlighted the importance of speed, saying, “Once we get starting material to them they can go fast and they can go big.” He also stressed the need to prepare for worst-case scenarios despite hopes that quarantine and contact tracing can contain the outbreak: “People are worried about this outbreak, generally, you prepare for the worst case scenario – hopefully contact tracing and quarantine is all that’s needed, but we can’t take our foot off the gas.”

This outbreak presents a particular challenge due to the rarity of the Bundibugyo Ebola strain, which has caused only two previous outbreaks—in Uganda in 2007 and the DRC in 2012—and has not been encountered for over a decade. While vaccines exist for the more prevalent Zaire Ebola strain, no proven vaccine is available for Bundibugyo. Unlike mass vaccination campaigns seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ebola vaccines are deployed selectively using a ring vaccination strategy, targeting individuals most at risk such as close contacts of confirmed cases and healthcare workers who manage infectious patients. Oxford’s team had previously worked on vaccines targeting other viral hemorrhagic fever pathogens, including the Sudan species of Ebola and Marburg virus, extending their expertise to confront this current health emergency

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