By Andrew Morse
ZURICH--Tests of two Ebola vaccines currently under development
could begin in West Africa as early as the end of the month, a
senior World Health Organization official said Friday.
Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, the WHO assistant director general for
health systems and innovation, said at a news conference following
a meeting of experts in Geneva that tests in Liberia could begin
before the end of January, while tests in Sierra Leone and Guinea,
two other West African countries that have been hit hard by the
disease, could begin in the following month.
One of the two vaccines is being developed by GlaxoSmithKline
PLC, while the other has been licensed by Merck & Co. Other
vaccines, including ones in Russia and China, are also under
development, Dr. Kieny said.
"At this time last year I would have said the cupboard was
empty," Dr. Kieny said. "But now the cupboard is clearly filling up
rapidly."
Testing of the Merck vaccine, which was licensed from NewLink
Genetics Corp., was briefly stopped at a hospital in Geneva last
month after several volunteers reported joint pain in their hands
and feet. The hospital said last week that testing would resume at
a new, lower dosage after the symptoms cleared up without
treatment.
Dr. Kieny acknowledged the side effects but said they weren't
"of sufficient concern to stop the development of this
vaccine."
Currently no vaccines currently exist to protect against
Ebola.
A total of 20,972 confirmed, suspected or probable cases of
Ebola have been recorded so far in Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea, the three countries most affected by the current outbreak,
according to WHO data released on Thursday. The disease has killed
8,259 people.
Write to Andrew Morse at andrew.morse@wsj.com
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