Canadian-made Experimental Ebola Vaccine to Begin Clinical Trials, Could Be Shipped to West Africa If Successful
The Canadian government said it will ship 800 vials of VSV-EBOV to the World Health Organization in Geneva. The trials will begin later this month in Europe and East and Central Africa.
If those go well, a second wave of trials in West Africa — the Ebola outbreak epicenter where 4,555 people have died — will begin after December.
Canada's VSV-EBOV, an experimental Ebola vaccine, will begin human clinical trials later this month.
Canada's set to send its experimental Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization, marking the first step toward clinically testing and possibly approving the drug.
The country will ship about 800 vials of the untested vaccine VSV-EBOV to Geneva Monday, the government said in a Saturday statement. WHO is set to start clinical trials with the drug in Europe and parts of Africa later this month.
The drug has never been tested on humans, but has shown promising results in animals, the government said.
The trials couldn't come fast enough: 4,555 people have died from Ebola during the 2014 outbreak, the U.N. said Friday.
The clinical trials for the Canadian drug will run from late October until December in Switzerland, Germany, Gabon and Kenya, CBC News reported.
If the early trials show no significant side-effects, health officials will begin a second round of trials in West Africa, the epicenter of the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Since the March onset, 8,997 people have contracted the virus. Nearly all the cases have been reported in three West African countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
A handful of cases have been confirmed in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the U.S.
There is no cure for Ebola, but several countries have been experimenting with treatments and vaccines for the deadly virus.
U.S.-made ZMapp has shown some success in treating patients with the disease.
American aid workers Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who developed the disease in Liberia, both recovered after receiving the drug. However a 75-year-old Ebola-stricken Spanish priest died even with the medication.
With News Wire Services
The Canadian government said it will ship 800 vials of VSV-EBOV to the World Health Organization in Geneva. The trials will begin later this month in Europe and East and Central Africa.
If those go well, a second wave of trials in West Africa — the Ebola outbreak epicenter where 4,555 people have died — will begin after December.
Canada's VSV-EBOV, an experimental Ebola vaccine, will begin human clinical trials later this month.
Canada's set to send its experimental Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization, marking the first step toward clinically testing and possibly approving the drug.
The country will ship about 800 vials of the untested vaccine VSV-EBOV to Geneva Monday, the government said in a Saturday statement. WHO is set to start clinical trials with the drug in Europe and parts of Africa later this month.
The drug has never been tested on humans, but has shown promising results in animals, the government said.
The trials couldn't come fast enough: 4,555 people have died from Ebola during the 2014 outbreak, the U.N. said Friday.
The clinical trials for the Canadian drug will run from late October until December in Switzerland, Germany, Gabon and Kenya, CBC News reported.
If the early trials show no significant side-effects, health officials will begin a second round of trials in West Africa, the epicenter of the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Since the March onset, 8,997 people have contracted the virus. Nearly all the cases have been reported in three West African countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
A handful of cases have been confirmed in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the U.S.
There is no cure for Ebola, but several countries have been experimenting with treatments and vaccines for the deadly virus.
U.S.-made ZMapp has shown some success in treating patients with the disease.
American aid workers Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who developed the disease in Liberia, both recovered after receiving the drug. However a 75-year-old Ebola-stricken Spanish priest died even with the medication.
With News Wire Services
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