Study confirms efficacy of NewLink Genetics ebola vaccine

The rVSV-ZEVOB ebola vaccine can provide up to 100% protection against onset of Zaire ebolavirus, one of the two most common strains of ebola, responsible for most of the cases observed in humans.

Microscope image of Ebola particles. Image credit: NIAID (CC BY 2.0)

Iowa-based NewLink Genetics owns the rights to rVSV-ZEVOB. The study's findings also show the vaccine is effective post-exposure, which makes it suitable for ring vaccination, the anti-outbreak strategy used in the study, in which everyone who has come into contact with a confirmed case is vaccinated to prevent the illness from spreading.

NewLink's chief scientific officer for infectious diseases, Thomas Monath, said the FDA would likely approve the vaccine quickly, with large-scale production as early as 2018.

rVSV-ZEVOB was initially developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the United States Army. It is a recombinant live replication-competent virus based on vesicular stomatitis virus.

Although it is harmless to humans, it has been engineered to express one of the same surface marker proteins as the Zaire ebolavirus, which trains the host's immune system to recognize both the vaccine and the true virus. (Wikinews)

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