Time is of the essence: Efforts to create Ebola vaccine intensify

Non-profit organisations announced on Monday that they are intensifying their efforts to rapidly develop a vaccine for the rare Ebola strain that is driving a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has resulted in nearly 250 suspected deaths and over 1,100 infected individuals in the DRC and neighbouring Uganda.

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The outbreak, which marks the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments, prompting a race to find a vaccine that can be quickly developed, manufactured, and tested in humans during clinical trials in the affected region.

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The World Health Organization determined on Saturday that the most promising candidate vaccine is a single-dose shot using the rVSV platform, which is the same platform used by the only licensed Ebola vaccine that targets the more common Zaire strain.

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The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative announced on Monday that it has reached a deal with the University of Texas Medical Branch to develop the rVSV candidate, with the university's Thomas Geisbert leading the work on both the Bundibugyo candidate and the licensed Zaire jab.

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Geisbert previously stated that 2013 research demonstrated his jab provided strong protection against Bundibugyo in monkeys, but the vaccine had been dormant for over a decade due to a lack of interest from pharmaceutical firms.

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The WHO estimated that it will take seven to nine months before the rVSV vaccine is ready to be tested in humans, highlighting the need for urgent action to combat the outbreak.

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The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations announced on Monday that it will provide funding to fast-track the development of three Bundibugyo vaccine candidates, including $3.2 million towards the rVSV jab, which was welcomed by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as an important step forward.

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Another vaccine candidate receiving CEPI funding was developed on the University of Oxford's ChAdOx1 platform, which could become available for clinical trials within two to three months, according to the WHO.

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CEPI also committed $50 million to a vaccine candidate being developed by US pharma giant Moderna, which uses the mRNA technology pioneered in its Covid vaccine.

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Researchers at France's INSERM institute called for trials to see if the licensed Zaire vaccine could also help fight Bundibugyo in a preprint paper published online last week.

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The Gavi vaccine alliance announced on Monday that it will make up to $50 million available for Bundibugyo vaccine efforts, with CEO Sania Nishtar stating that the funding is necessary to ensure manufacturers can start producing doses at scale once a vaccine candidate is ready.

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IAVI president Mark Feinberg noted that Gavi's commitment could fund the production of roughly 500,000 doses and provide a signal to manufacturers that they can make this investment without excessive risk.

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However, even once doses for a trial are ready, there will be challenges in deploying them in a vast, remote area of the DRC that is already suffering from crises including hunger, malaria, and conflict.

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Gaining the trust of communities where vaccines will be trialled will be crucial, according to the WHO, and there is no guarantee that a trial will demonstrate the vaccine works.

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CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett cautioned that the vaccines must be treated as investigational products, and there are also several efforts to quickly trial several Bundibugyo treatments, including antivirals and the monoclonal antibody MBP134.