Ebola Vax Trial Update

A novel Ebola vaccine being tested in China is safe and provokes a notable immune response in people, according to a Phase 1 trial.

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

FLICKR, NIAIDA Phase 1 trial in China has demonstrated the safety of a new Ebola vaccine and hinted at its efficacy, according to a study published today (March 25) in The Lancet. The vaccine candidate is the first to incorporate immunogens from the strain of Ebola that has terrorized West Africa for nearly a year; all other tested Ebola vaccines have been based on the strain that caused an outbreak in Zaire in 1976, according to a press release.

In the Phase 1 trial, investigators administered the new vaccine candidate, developed by the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology and Tianjin CanSino Biotechnology, or a placebo to 120 healthy Chinese adults. Four weeks later, all 40 participants who received a high dose of the vaccine showed a positive immune response, as did 38 out of 40 participants in the low-dose group. Those who had received the high dose produced more antibodies than those in the low-dose group. No serious adverse events were reported. The researchers plan to follow the vaccine recipients to assess long-term immune responses.

“This adenovirus type-5 Ebola vaccine vector is an example of how quickly existing vaccine platforms can be modified to incorporate a new virus strain, and moved, with minimum testing in ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Jef Akst

    Jef Akst was managing editor of The Scientist, where she started as an intern in 2009 after receiving a master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio