By Kemo Cham
China is to deploy a new Ebola vaccine trial in Sierra Leone, bringing to four the number of such trials in the country.
Ad5-Ebov is a recombinant adenoviral Ebola vaccine, co-developed by the Bioengineering Institute of the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) and the privately owned vaccine manufacturer Tianin Casino Biotechnology Inc. This makes it a public-private partnership between the Chinese government and Casino.
Ad5-Ebov has already gone through two phase I clinical trials in China. The first trial involved 120 Chinese adults, and the second involved 61 African adults living in China.
Ahead of commencement of this phase II trial, a three-day Clinical Training for Investigators is underway in Freetown, at the Shangri La Resort conference hall in Aberdeen.
The training tool was designed to expose participants to good clinical practice, trial protocol and standard operating procedures, according to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), which informed Politico about the development via an emailed communication.
The training which began on Thursday was attended by the Chief Medical Officer, MoHS, Dr. Brima Kargbo, who expressed the ministry`s support for the trial.
Dr Kargbo said the Ebola outbreak in the three West African countries and the threat in the sub region had an adverse effect on the country’s economy and the lives of the people. The loss of lives as a result of the Ebola, he added, was a concern to the government and the Ministry as it had claimed the lives of many health professionals leaving gaps in the human resource base, hence the need for the “invaluable life-saving intervention” of the Chinese through this trial.
Kargbo disclosed that trials of the other unnamed vaccines had proven effective, without giving further details.
“We still have the challenge to contain the viral disease against other outbreak,” he said, reminding the investigators on training of the need to engage communities for the success of the trial.
Dr. Alie Wurie of the MoHS is Project Coordinator of the Ad5-EBOV vaccine trial. Wurie, who is also the Case Management Lead at the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC), disclosed that the Chinese trial has got the approval of the government of Sierra Leone.
500 Sierra Leoneans, mostly healthcare workers between the ages 18-50, alongside some Chinese doctors, will take part in the trial, according to Dr Wurie, who added that preliminary report of the Ad5-EBOV phase II clinical trial showed it was “very encouraging”.
The trial will last for six months, he said.
The China Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is supervising the trial.
Its representative at the opening of the Shangri La Resort training, Dr. Fengcai Zhu, said previous investigations showed that Sierra Leoneans were willing to take the vaccination, which he assured was safe.
(C) Politico Online 02/10/15
