Ebola vaccine trial to combine GSK, Emergent Bio shots

REUTERS                                                                                                          March 16, 2015

LONDON  - Scientists are to test a new two-shot Ebola vaccine using an experimental shot from Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, which is already in clinical trials in Africa, and a new kind of booster from Emergent BioSolutions.

A health worker, left, injects a man in his arm with an Ebola vaccine in Conakry, Guinea, March 7, 2015. The World Health Organization is starting large-scale testing of an experimental Ebola vaccine in Guinea  to see how effective it might be in preventing future outbreaks of the deadly virus.  (AP Photo/ Youssouf Bah)

The Maryland-based biotech company said on Monday its modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) Ebola Zaire vaccine would be used in an initial Phase I clinical study to be conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford.

Although Ebola case numbers have fallen to a low level, drug companies are still pushing ahead with efforts to develop an effective vaccine, which may help fight the next outbreak, even if it does not come in time for the current epidemic.

One big area of debate is whether it is better to have a single or double-shot vaccine. Administering a follow-up booster would almost certainly give greater protection but it would also make immunisation far more complicated.

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