GlaxoSmithKline’s Ebola vaccine may enter clinical trials soon

The vaccine is being developed by GSK in collaboration with scientists at the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

In primates, the vaccine has already shown promising results and is likely to get underway into Phase I testing in humans following approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

NIAID said in a statement that testing would start "as early as fall 2014" or in September.

Noting that the vaccine may not be put in place for widespread deployment before 2015, a GSK official was quoted by The Guardian as saying: "It is right at the beginning of the development journey and still has a very long way to go."

The new experimental vaccine, which was acquired by GSK after the purchase of the Swiss-based biotech company Okairos, is based on a chimpanzee adenovirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently declared an international health emergency for Ebola, which has been reported to have claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 people in the Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, Africa.

The US has already partnered with European countries and WHO to combat the widespread of Ebola.

Johnson & Johnson’s Crucell unit is also working on an early-stage Ebola vaccine, which may enter Phase I clinical testing in late 2015 or early 2016.

Additionally, NewLink Genetics had received a letter contract from the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for testing and evaluating an Ebola virus vaccine.

Image: An electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle showing the characteristic filamentous structure of a Filoviridae. Photo: courtesy of CDC/ Dr Frederick A Murphy.