Health Officials Discuss Status of Potential Ebola Vaccines

luiscar/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Top officials from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration held a press conference on Thursday to offer an update on the testing of Ebola vaccines.

During the call, four different vaccine candidates were discussed, including one developed by the NIAID and Glaxo Smith Kline and one developed in a partnership between Canadian health authorities and Merck, both of which are in Phase 1 of studies — the earliest studies involving human subjects. Such testing is meant to assess safety for use, rather than the efficacy of the vaccine.

Officials also discussed two potential vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson.

A larger phase two and three study is planned in Liberia to help determine how effective the vaccines are. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH, the study would involve about 27,000 subjects and could begin “in a couple of weeks.” The study could take nine months to a year to conduct.

A separate trial of the same vaccines is planned for Sierra Leone with a different study design. That trial could include an estimated 6,000 subjects.

Officials also discussed ZMapp, the potential Ebola therapeutic treatment, saying that health agencies and the government of Liberia are working to evaluate ZMapp in studies in both the U.S. and Liberia.

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