By Betsy McKay
The National Institutes of Health said Thursday it will begin
testing an experimental Ebola vaccine in humans next week,
accelerating research as an epidemic caused by the deadly virus
continues to ravage West Africa.
GlaxoSmithKline, co-developer of the vaccine candidate along
with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
said it will manufacture up to 10,000 doses so that if initial
human trials are successful, it can make the stockpile available
for further testing or for an emergency immunization program for
people at high risk of the disease. More than 1,500 people, or 52%
of those infected in the current outbreak, have died.
Scientists will begin enrolling patients early next week in a
trial in Bethesda, Md., where the NIH campus is located. The Phase
I trial will determine whether the vaccine is safe and generates a
protective response in the immmune systems of 20 healthy adult
volunteers between the ages of 18 and 50 years.
Write to Betsy McKay at betsy.mckay@wsj.com
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