CrosswordNewsletters
DAILY BEAST
ALL
  • Cheat Sheet
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Media
  • Innovation
  • Opinion
  • World
  • U.S. News
  • Scouted
  • Travel
CHEAT SHEET
    POLITICS
    • Biden World
    • Elections
    • Opinion
    • National Security
    • Congress
    • Pay Dirt
    • The New Abnormal
    • Right Richter
    • Trumpland
    MEDIA
    • Daytime Talk
    • Late-Night
    • Fox News
    U.S. NEWS
    • Identities
    • Crime
    • Race
    • LGBT
    • Extremism
    • Coronavirus
    WORLD
    • Russia
    • Europe
    • China
    • Middle East
    SCIENCE
    • Hunt for the Cure
    • Rabbit Hole
    TRAVEL
      ENTERTAINMENT
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Comedy
      • Sports
      • Sex
      • TDBs Obsessed
      • Awards Shows
      • The Last Laugh
      HALF-FULL
        CULTURE
        • Power Trip
        • Fashion
        • Books
        • Royalist
        TECH
        • Disinformation
        SCOUTED
        • Face Masks
        • Clothing
        • Technology
        • Bedroom
        • Kitchen
        • Home
        • Fitness
        • The Case For
        • I'm Looking For
        • New Kids On the Block
        COUPONS
        • Adidas Promo Codes
        • DoorDash Promo Codes
        • H&M Coupons
        • Hotwire Promo Codes
        • Wine.com Discounts
        • Vitacost Coupons
        • Spanx Promo Codes
        • StubHub Promo Codes
        Products
        NewslettersPodcastsCrosswordsSubscription
        FOLLOW US
        GOT A TIP?

        SEARCH

        HOMEPAGE
        Tech

        The Race for the Ebola Vaccine

        SPRINTING

        With Ebola still raging in West Africa, the race to find a vaccine is heating up. Which drug company will be first to the finish line?

        Abby Haglage

        Updated Apr. 14, 2017 12:27PM ET / Published Jan. 07, 2015 5:55AM ET 

        Steve Parsons-WPA Pool/Getty Images

        UPDATE: According to a statement from WHO Friday, Merck & Co.'s VSV-EBOV vaccine has proven "highly effective,” with 100 percent efficacy in clinical trials. The vaccine was developed by an Ames-Iowa based pharmaceutical called NewLink and commissioned by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

        The need for an Ebola vaccine in West Africa has never been greater.

        While public interest in Ebola continues to dwindle, the epidemic itself continues to soar. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization reported more than 20,000 cases of the disease in West Africa, nearly half of them in Sierra Leone. The death toll, which experts believe has been significantly undercut by secret burials, stands at 7,905. With a mortality rate of 70 percent, the more cases that arise, the deadlier this epidemic becomes.

        Although a few smaller companies have become involved in the race for a vaccine, three major pharmaceutical makers are taking the lead—each pursuing a different vaccine. The trials are unprecedented for a variety of reasons, including the rapid timeline (trials of this nature generally take three to four years). Each individual race involves an unusual collaboration between researchers, manufacturers, and public-health entities. Together, the teams are working 24 hours a day for a product that promises much higher risk than it does profit.

        Here’s what you need to know about the Ebola vaccine front-runners.

        1. Johnson & Johnson (J&J)

        Status: Phase 1, first in human trials at University of Oxford Type: Two-shot vaccine, specifically targeting the Zaire species of Ebola

        The U.S. drug giant made headlines Tuesday with the news that human trials of its experimental Ebola vaccine are now underway in the U.K. Although a late entry to the race—its announcement came in September—J&J has quickly stolen the spotlight. In October, the company pledged more than $200 million to fast track its unique vaccine, which takes a two-pronged approach to immunizing a patient against Ebola.

        Seventy-two adults between the ages of 18 and 50 are participating in the trial, led by the pediatrics department at Oxford. The accelerated vaccine utilizes two different treatments—the first to “prime” the patient’s immune system, and the other to “boost” it—each manufactured by separate international biotechnical companies (one, Denmark-based Bavarian Nordic; the other, Netherlands-based Crucell). If successful, Johnson & Johnson plans to have as many as 400,000 doses available by April, and up to 5 million by the end of the year.

        2. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

        Status: Phase 2, administering the vaccine to thousands of Ebola workers Type: Two different specific strains of Ebola delivered via a chimpanzee carrier virus

        British drug behemoth GlaxoSmithKline got a head start on J&J, partnering with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to begin human trials of an experimental Ebola vaccine in late August. GSK’s involvement springs from Okairos, a Swiss-Italian biotechnology company that it acquired in 2013. The vaccine was co-developed by Okairos and a team of American scientists led by Dr. Nancy J. Sullivan, chief of Biodefense Research Section in NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center.

        The NIAID/DSK vaccine is different from J&J’s in that it contains segments of the Ebola virus’s genetic material from two different strains: Zaire (this current outbreak) and Sudan. The vaccine is delivered through a “carrier virus” that causes a common cold in chimpanzees but does not affect humans. Twenty adults in Bethesda, Maryland, were injected with the vaccine for the Phase 1 trial in August. The trials produced positive results, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in November. Four weeks after the injections, all 20 of the participants had developed the antibodies needed to stave off the infection. The next phase of the trial consists of vaccinating Ebola workers on the front lines. A date has yet to be announced.

        3. Merck & Co.

        Status: Phase 1, restarting first in human trials at lower dose due to complaints of joint pain Type: Genetically engineered version of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)

        Decidedly the underdog in this fight is American pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., whose effort rests on a tiny Ames, Iowa-based biotechnology company called NewLInk Genetics Corp. Merck bought the rights to NewLink’s vaccine in late November, a treatment that was initially commissioned by the Public Health Agency of Canada in 2011 for $200,000.

        NewLink’s vaccine, VSV-Zebov, is “based in part on a genetically engineered version of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV).” The gene for the outer protein of the VSV virus, which is incredibly rare in humans, is replaced with a segment of the gene from the Ebola Zaire species. The company began Phase 1 first in human trials in December, after getting approval from the Federal Drug Administration. But the trials, conducted at the University Hospitals of Geneva, were halted when volunteers reported joint pain as a result of the injection. The Phase 1 trials are set to resume this week, using a lower dose of the vaccine.

        READ THIS LIST

        DAILY BEAST
        • Podcasts
        • Cheat Sheet
        • Politics
        • Crime
        • Entertainment
        • Media
        • Covid-19
        • Half Full
        • U.S. News
        • Scouted
        • Travel
        • Subscription
        • Crossword
        • Newsletters
        • Podcasts
        • About
        • Contact
        • Tips
        • Jobs
        • Advertise
        • Help
        • Privacy
        • Code of Ethics & Standards
        • Diversity
        • Terms & Conditions
        • Copyright & Trademark
        • Sitemap
        • Coupons
        © 2022 The Daily Beast Company LLC