WHO announces start of Ebola vaccine clinical trial in DR Congo

In practice, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the beginning of the first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Key points

• One is a ChAdOx1 adenoviral vector jab being developed by the University of Oxford; the other, by the US-based Moderna group, uses mRNA technology.
• Both have received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and are projected to enter the trial "shortly", CEPI stated in an official note.
• "This trial will help us understand whether any of the vaccine candidates designed for Bundibugyo virus work, " the WHO chief remarked on X.
• The so-called Tumaini trial is a single trial framework that can test the safety, efficacy and immunogenicity of multiple vaccines.
• The trial will include pregnant women and children aged 12 years and older, generating evidence for populations that are often excluded from clinical trials.

WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, remarked in a social media post on Friday that participants in the trial were vaccinated with the Ervebo vaccine in Bunia, the capital of the DRC's northeastern Ituri province. It is the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak.

Ervebo, a vaccine approved for employ against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, will be put through a full-scale human trial to see if it offers any cross-protection against the Bundibugyo species of Ebola that is behind the epidemic.

"WHO is supporting this DRC-led effort to find answers and save lives, " he continued.

Meanwhile, the DRC declared its 17th and worst-ever Ebola outbreak in May and has since documented more than 9, 700 cases, with the number of deaths exceeding 4, 600.

Meanwhile, the WHO, in response, triggered a public health emergency of international concern, its second-highest alert level.

Meanwhile, the current outbreak has now been documented in four countries throughout eastern, central ⁠⁠and western Africa, giving it the widest geographic spread of any Ebola outbreak on the continent to date. Vaccines in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, the so-called Tumaini trial is a single trial framework that can test the safety, efficacy and immunogenicity of multiple vaccines.

For context, the trial will employ a ring vaccination approach: immunising contacts deemed to be at high risk of infection.

In practice, the trial is due to incorporate two Bundibugyo-specific candidate vaccines. It are at present advancing through earlier-stage, smaller-scale clinical trials.

In practice, the trial will include pregnant women and children aged 12 years and older, generating evidence for populations that are often excluded from clinical trials.

WHO emergencies director Chikwe Ihekweazu remarked the trial was set up to generate the rigorous evidence needed to determine whether the participating vaccines could protect residents at risk.

For now, WHO announces start of Ebola vaccine clinical trial in DR Congo remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.