NIH begins early human clinical trial of VSV Ebola vaccine

Human testing of a second investigational Ebola vaccine candidate is under way at the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) are conducting the early phase trial to evaluate the vaccine, called VSV-ZEBOV, for safety and its ability to generate an immune system response in healthy adults who are given two intramuscular doses, called a prime-boost strategy. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is simultaneously testing the vaccine candidate as a single dose at its Clinical Trials Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. “The need for a vaccine to protect against Ebola infection is urgent,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “NIH welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct human clinical tests of another promising—and hopefully, successful—Ebola vaccine candidate.” NIAID researchers include principal investigator Richard T. Davey, M.D., and co-investigator John Beigel,...