Bundibugyo's Ebola vaccine is on its way

A new experimental vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has begun clinical trials, marking a critical step in addressing the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The trial involves a candidate named ChAdOx1, which uses the same adenoviral platform as the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19. This development comes just 68 days after the World Health Organization declared the current epidemic a public health emergency of international concern. The vaccine was developed by Hilleman Laboratories, a joint venture based in Singapore between Merck and the global charitable organization Wellcome. The initiative is backed by up to $8.5 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Dr. Teresa Lambe, who leads vaccine immunology at the University of Oxford and coordinates the phase I clinical study, explained how the vaccination works during an interview published by Nature. She noted that ChAdOx1 is designed to elicit an immune response against the Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus. The vaccine’s platform, already used for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, allows for rapid development and testing, crucial given the urgency of the current outbreak. The epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has escalated rapidly, with cases of the Bundibugyo virus increasing at alarming rates. According to reports, as of July 29, the outbreak in eastern Congo had infected 3,360 individuals and resulted in 1,487 deaths. There are currently no approved treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, making the development of an effective vaccine even more urgent. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating that there is no existing vaccine against the virus and that efforts are being accelerated to test potential vaccines. CEPI has committed up to $50 million to the development of a Bundibugyo-specific Ebola vaccine in collaboration with Moderna. The partnership between Merck and Wellcome aims to produce a single-dose vaccine developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which the WHO identified as one of the most promising candidates in May. The goal of the trial is initially to assess the safety of the vaccine and its ability to generate an immune response among approximately fifty healthy volunteers aged 18 to 55 in the United Kingdom. If results prove positive, the program will proceed with further studies in Uganda, followed by phase II and III trials directly within affected areas by autumn or winter this year. Dr. Lambe highlighted that the speed at which the vaccine reached clinical trials was made possible by years of prior research. “We have been working extensively on Ebola vaccines for many years,” she told Reuters. “Some members of our group were already involved during the 2013 epidemic, and we had the genetic sequence frozen ready for quick production of a vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo virus.” The Oxford team also managed to develop all necessary phases simultaneously, bypassing the traditional sequential approach. Preclinical studies, vaccine production, protocol preparation, and regulatory consultations were conducted in parallel. For vaccine manufacturing, the team collaborated with the Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility at the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, which played a key role in large-scale production of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine. This coordinated effort underscores the global commitment to combating emerging infectious diseases through innovation and rapid deployment.