Moderna Begins Human Trial of Experimental Ebola Vaccine in Canada
The early-stage study will enroll about 80 healthy adults and measure safety, dosage and antibody response, Moderna said.
- On Tuesday, Moderna Inc. began the first human trial of an experimental mRNA vaccine targeting Bundibugyo Ebola, with Health Canada approval and initial volunteers already dosed across three Canadian sites.
- The Bundibugyo strain is driving the world's second-largest Ebola outbreak, with 3,802 confirmed cases and 1,707 deaths reported as of Sunday; no approved vaccines or medical therapies currently exist for this viral strain.
- Backed by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations with up to $50 million in funding, the trial will enroll about 80 healthy adults, and Moderna plans to provide at least 500,000 doses to low- and middle-income countries if approved.
- With at least 46 frontline health workers dead, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention plans to present a proposal to the World Health Organization this week to protect medical staff fighting the outbreak.
- Moderna expects initial safety data in the coming months, joining other development efforts including an adenovirus-vectored candidate from the University of Oxford that entered trials last month and a Merck vaccine planned for later this year.
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Two vaccines designed against the Ebola Bundibugyo virus are now being tested on humans in the United Kingdom and Canada. In the DRC, treatment trials are also being conducted on patients and some highly exposed contacts. However, none of these products has yet demonstrated its effectiveness. Their evaluation is taking place in the midst of an ongoing epidemic, sometimes under difficult conditions.
For the first time, Moderna has vaccinated subjects with a Bundibugyo-Ebola vaccine. The Democratic Republic of Congo is fighting its fastest outbreak so far.
An Ebola vaccine that causes an uncontrollable epidemic in Africa is beginning to be tested in Canada and the United Kingdom. This is the first time an emergency process has been used to approve a messenger RNA vaccine since the VOCID-19 pandemic.
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