March 28, 2024

HIV Product Appears Successful Against Ebola

Summary

  • GSK is one of the companies recently thrust into the news due to the current Ebola outbreak.
  • While working on a vaccine against Ebola a Dr in Liberia has started using their HIV drug lamivudine successfully against Ebola.
  • This method is bypassing trials and there are risks. But, it’s approved for human use and ready to go.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) has a significant global presence in over 150 countries, and it is a dividend-paying company with a huge pipeline of products.

In the Ebola space, it is working with research partners to develop a vaccine to prevent Ebola. GSK acquired the product when it purchased Okairos in May 2013. The GSK vaccine is called chimpanzee adenovirus Ebola.

The vaccine was evaluated in collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health’s Vaccine Research Center, “VRC”, before deciding to move forward with human safety trials.

An international consortium formed to fight the current Ebola outbreak has fast-tracked the vaccine, along with providing funding. The funding will also allow the manufacture of 10,000 additional doses to be ready, if the trials are successful.

“A Β£2.8 million grant from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council “MRC” and the UK Department for International Development “DFID” will allow a team led by Professor Adrian Hill, of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, to start safety tests of the vaccine alongside similar trials in the USA run by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, a part of the NIH).

The phase 1 trials will begin as soon as they receive ethical and regulatory approvals, which will be considered on an expedited basis. If approvals are granted, the UK research teams could start vaccinating volunteers from mid-September.”

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