Africa: Two New Candidate Vaccines to Join Ebola Trial As Treatment Research Advances

Expert groups convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended adding two new Ebola vaccine candidates to the ongoing Tumaini clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The recommendation marks the first time vaccines specifically designed to protect against Bundibugyo virus, the virus responsible for the current outbreak, will be evaluated during an outbreak of the disease.

The two vaccine candidates are ChAdOx1, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna's mRNA-1469. WHO's independent Technical Advisory Group on Candidate Vaccine Prioritization recommended both for further clinical evaluation this week, based on available preclinical and early clinical evidence. The companies were informed on Monday. The vaccine candidates will enter the trial following national approvals.