Uganda Launching New Experimental Ebola Vaccine Trial

Researchers aim to deploy the trial in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been ravaged by Ebola for a year.

| 2 min read
ebola vaccine uganda drc democratic republic of congo clinical trial

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

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM, MANJURUL

Researchers in Uganda are set to introduce a second experimental Ebola vaccine to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where the virus has claimed more than 1,800 lives in the past year. The trial, supported by Doctors without Borders and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will be the largest yet conducted with this vaccine.

Over the course of the outbreak, about 180,000 people have received an experimental vaccine produced by Merck Pharmaceuticals. Although effective, the vaccine could not overcome impediments to virus containment in the country due to violence and resistance to health care interventions from communities that hadn’t experienced the disease. The new vaccine, produced by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, has been tested in about 6,000 people, mostly African.

“It’s one of those vaccines that have shown a lot of promise in animal studies but also in other trials that have been conducted,” says ...

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

  • Nicoletta Lanese

    This person does not yet have a bio.
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
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
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

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

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