WHO, DRC advance Ebola vaccine trial as outbreak sets pace record
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- WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in northeast DRC is moving faster than any previous Ebola epidemic and is on track to eclipse the 2014-2016 West African outbreak
- As of Monday, the outbreak centered in DRC's Ituri province had recorded more than 4,500 confirmed cases and 2,060 deaths, making it the second-biggest Ebola epidemic on record
- Merck's Ervebo — which targets Ebola Zaire, a different species — will be the first vaccine pushed into the Phase 3 trial after studies suggested it may offer cross-protection against Bundibugyo
- The trial will individually randomize contacts of cases to receive Ervebo or a placebo, departing from the ring vaccination approach used in the original Ebola Ça Suffit trial that proved Ervebo's roughly 84% effectiveness against Ebola Zaire
- Oxford Vaccine Group and Moderna are running Phase 1 trials of Bundibugyo-specific vaccines — including an mRNA candidate in Canada — with results expected in September that could add them to the Phase 3 trial
- A third Bundibugyo-specific vaccine from IAVI uses the same platform as Ervebo, but won't have enough doses for a Phase 3 trial for several months
- DRC authorities announced this week they want to roll out Ervebo for general use outside a clinical trial — backed by the Africa CDC — though access to the roughly 500,000-dose stockpile controlled by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision remains unclear
Why it matters: With the Bundibugyo outbreak already eclipsing every prior Ebola epidemic in pace and DRC publicly pushing for immediate general-use deployment of Ervebo, the Phase 3 trial design is now both a scientific experiment and a political pressure point. The roughly 500,000-dose global stockpile is gated by four agencies — IFRC, MSF, UNICEF, and WHO — meaning even a proven vaccine can't reach the field without coordinated action across that chain.
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