The World Health Organization announced that two new Ebola vaccine candidates will be added to a clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the country continues to battle an outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus.
The announcement follows a recommendation from WHO’s independent Technical Advisory Group on Candidate Vaccines Prioritization. According to the United Nations, this will be the first time vaccines designed specifically for Bundibugyo virus are evaluated during an outbreak of the disease.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The fact that these vaccines are ready to enter clinical trials is a testament to the power of science and partnership.” He stressed that vaccines alone will not end the outbreak, but said “they could become a powerful new tool for bringing it under control.”
The two candidates are ChAdOx1, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and mRNA-1469, developed by Moderna, an American pharmaceutical and biotech company. WHO convened the expert group, which this week recommended the vaccines for further clinical evaluation based on available evidence.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, has been battling the outbreak for nearly six months, and the United Nations said it has become the largest in the country’s history. As of Nov. 1, there were more than 10,500 confirmed cases and 5,126 deaths.
WHO is supporting the Tumaini multi-vaccine trial, named after the Swahili word for “hope.” The trial was launched on Oct. 23 in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, which remains the epicenter of the outbreak.
The Ervebo vaccine, used against the Zaire species of the Ebola virus, is already being tested to determine whether it is effective against Bundibugyo. The two new candidates will enter the trial following national approvals.
Tumaini is designed to test multiple vaccine candidates within a single trial. It uses a ring-vaccination approach that focuses on contacts of people with confirmed Ebola Bundibugyo. WHO and partners pioneered the strategy during the West Africa Ebola outbreak a decade ago, when a trial in Guinea established the efficacy of the Ervebo vaccine.
Four vaccination rings have been set up, and several more are being prepared. Research into other potential treatments is also moving forward.