By Kemo Cham
Less than two weeks after reports of the commencement of trial of a Chinese made Ebola vaccine in Sierra Leone, the United States pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has said it had started a similar study.
J&J said Friday it had administered the first dose of its two-shot Ebola vaccine regimen in a clinical trial that aims at proving the immunological safety of the product. J&J is collaborating with Bavarian Nordic, a Sweden-based biotechnology firm which researches and develops vaccines for infectious diseases.
The ‘EBOVAC-Salone’ study will also seek to prove the product`s ability to provoke an immune response.
The study involves a prime-boost vaccine regimen that combines the Ad26.ZEBOV vaccine manufactured by Jensen, a component of J&J, and the MVA-BN Filo vaccine manufactured by Bavarian Nordic.
Volunteers will first be given the Ad26.ZEBOV dose to prime their immune system, and then a dose of the MVA-BN Filo will be administered to boost their immune response, the two companies said.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is coordinating the study which is being conducted in the northern district of Kambia, one of the areas where Sierra Leone recorded its most recent Ebola cases.
40 adults aged 18 years or older are taking part in this first phase of the study. The second phase will enroll approximately 400 individuals across different age groups, including children and adolescents, according to the companies.
“Additional stages are being finalized in consultation with the Sierra Leonean authorities and international health agencies,” a statement by Bavarian Nordic, issued separately on Friday, said.
"It is a significant step forward in the development of a vaccine against Ebola,” the company`s President & Chief Executive Officer, Paul Chaplin, was quoted saying.
“We believe our progress to date highlights the potential for a successful model of private-public partnerships in the development of products addressing unmet medical needs for the future," he added.
This is said to be the first study conducted of the ‘prime-boost vaccine regimen’ in a West African country affected by the recent Ebola epidemic.
The Ad26.ZEBOV vaccine will be the fifth Ebola candidate vaccine to go on trial in the region, coming after the Chinese concluded pre-deployment training for their Ad5-Ebov vaccine in Sierra Leone about two weeks ago.
There is also Merck and NewLink Genetics' rVSV-ZEBOV candidate vaccine in Guinea and Sierra Leone. GlaxoSmithKline is also on track with its vaccine which was notably deployed in Liberia in January.
But the deployment of some of these candidate vaccines at a time when the disease in question is approaching its end has raised many questions.
Sierra Leone released its last known Ebola patients on September 28.
The country is entering its third week this week in the countdown to 42 days to be declared free of the epidemic by the World Health Organisation.
“One of the many lessons learned from the outbreak is we cannot let our guard down with Ebola, and we need to test every promising prevention tool. It is our hope that this study will help to confirm the value of this vaccine regimen in Ebola control efforts – not just for Sierra Leone, but for the world,” said Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer and Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson.
Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, also added his voice to the development.
“We cannot afford to be complacent about Ebola. We urgently need a vaccine that offers long-term protection of the population, including health workers and other care givers, in order to prevent a resurgence of the virus,” he said.
(C) Politico Online 12/10/15
