Scientists at Oxford University are developing a new Ebola vaccine that could be ready for clinical trials within two to three months, offering hope in the fight against the deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Oxford team is using the same technology they developed during the Covid pandemic — a highly adjustable platform known as ChAdOx1 — to create a vaccine against the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has no proven vaccine and kills around a third of those infected.
A Promising Technology
The vaccine uses a common cold virus that normally infects chimpanzees, genetically engineered to be safe for people. Researchers use this modified virus to carry and deliver genetic material about the Bundibugyo Ebola virus to cells, instructing them to recognise and fight off the actual disease.
The vaccine does not cause an infection or Ebola symptoms, but trains the immune system to give protection. Professor Lambe, the Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group, told the BBC: “Once we get starting material to them they can go fast and they can go big.”
Animal Testing Underway
The BBC understands that animal testing is now under way in Oxford. However, the WHO said earlier this week that there was no animal data yet to support the effectiveness of this particular vaccine.
The Serum Institute of India is lined up to mass produce the Ebola vaccine once Oxford can supply medical-grade material. But there are no guarantees the vaccine will prove effective, and it will take animal research and trials on people to know if it will be.
Ring Vaccination Strategy
Ebola vaccines would not be used en masse in the same way as during the Covid pandemic. Instead, they are used in a technique called ring vaccination — where only the people most likely to get infected are immunised, including close contacts of cases and healthcare workers treating sick patients.
This current Ebola outbreak is challenging because it is caused by a rare species of the virus that has not been seen for over a decade, meaning fewer tools are available to stop it.
