Ebola vaccine hits milestone in Baltimore

A Baltimore biotech company passed a key marker in the quest to develop the first Ebola vaccine this week.
Study results published in the journal Nature revealed that a candidate vaccine developed by Profectus Biosciences could protect monkeys against the strain of the Ebola virus that caused the outbreak in West Africa.
The study shows that the vaccine protected against the “Makona” strain of Ebola, which infected more than 25,000 people and killed more than 10,000.
The results also mean that Profectus can proceed to the phase of trials where the treatment is tested on humans. Other Ebola vaccines are already at that phase as a result of government fast-tracking, but their tests relied on other — and, in some cases, weaker — forms of Ebola. Researchers hadn’t demonstrate that the vaccine worked on a monkey that was infected with the current strain.
“That had not been formally demonstrated until this study,” said Profectus Chief Scientific Officer John Eldridge.
The company has been working to develop a vaccine for more than 15 years, so proof that it worked is a major milestone.
Developing the vaccine for the current strain required engineering its main developmental treatment for the current strain. Profectus makes a vaccine “platform” called VesiculoVax, which is designed to protect against three diseases in the philovirus category: Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan and Angola strain of Marburg. The Makana strain is about “97 percent identical” to Ebola Zaire, Eldridge said.
Profectus believes having a more comprehensive vaccine in place will allow health officials to be better prepared for future outbreaks. After years of telling the company that funding wasn’t available, last year’s Ebola outbreak brought funding and interest from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense and BARDA. The agencies formed a consortium to fund the development of Profectus vaccines to the tune of $55 million.
So far, the trials are baring out Profectus’ hopes. Along with proving that the vaccine worked against Ebola, Eldridge said the study results also provided proof that their approach to constructing the vaccine is working.
Profectus’ antidote is an attenuated vaccine, meaning it makes a virus harmless instead of killing it altogether. A past version of an attenuated Ebola vaccine licensed to Merck showed side effects like fever and muscle pain. Profectus has a more attenuated vaccine, which showed a 10-fold reduction in side effects, Eldridge said.
The vaccine does not contain Ebola. It is made from vesicular stomatitis virus, which is a danger to livestock.
With the recent results, Profectus said human trials may begin by the end of July.
The date when a vaccine might reach the public remains a moving target.
While the process continues to move much quicker than most vaccine trials, Eldridge said the process might by slightly slowed down because of some good news: the outbreak is starting to come under control. A World Health Organization official told the company that only 30 new cases of Ebola were reported in the last week, Eldridge said.
Originally, the company planned to conduct human trials in the field. But if there are fewer people infected, Profectus would have to take a different tack, which could put the vaccine in treatment around the first quarter of 2017.