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news.NewLink Genetics (NLNK) announced that the international partnership studying the VSV-ZEBOV (Ebola) vaccine candidate in Guinea has released interim data suggesting that it is effective against Ebola in a large clinical trial.
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According to the announcement, the interim results suggest that the vaccine candidate demonstrates efficacy within about 10 days of administration to a person without the infection.
The VSV-ZEBOV (Ebola) vaccine candidate was originally developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and was subsequently licensed to a subsidiary of NewLink Genetics.
In late 2014, Merck licensed the vaccine from NewLink Genetics to apply Merck’s vaccine expertise to help accelerate the development of this promising candidate. Merck is now responsible for research, development and manufacturing of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine.
"NewLink appreciates the tremendous support for these studies from our many collaboration partners, including Merck, the government of Canada and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority), and especially the U.S. Department of Defense, which provided funding for the development and manufacturing of the vaccine, the World Health Organization, and the many other organizations that stepped forward in the crisis to support the development of this vaccine and the clinical studies in Africa," said Dr. Charles Link, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer of NewLink Genetics.
"We hope that the interim data published today contribute to the successful registration of our vaccine candidate, which we believe can play an important part in diminishing the threat of Ebola."
Because of the Ebola crisis, a large team was assembled which included scientists, physicians, epidemiologists and other experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), Norway, Canada, Guinea, Doctors without Borders, the Universities of Florida, Maryland and Bern, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Funding for the trial came from the Wellcome Trust, Norway, Canada, WHO, and Doctors without Borders.
NewLink Genetics and Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada), one of the world’s leading vaccine and pharmaceutical companies, provided the vaccine. Scientists from NewLink Genetics and Merck also gave detailed technical support on the vaccine and its administration to field trial staff.
The international partnership’s statement can be found in a joint announcement of the Wellcome Trust, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Doctors Without Borders, Merck, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Lancet, and Ministère de la Santé et de l’Hygiène Publique de Guinée.