Interim phase III trial data shows rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine 100% effective against ebola- Merck Inc/NewLink Genetics

Merck said that its investigational Ebola vaccine candidate, rVSV-ZEBOV, from Merck Inc/NewLink Genetics, was found to have 100 percent efficacy in an analysis of interim data from a Phase III ring vaccination trial in Guinea. Preliminary conclusions from this study, which is continuing, were published on-line in The Lancet. The authors report that vaccine efficacy was 100 percent (95% confidence interval: 74.7 - 100%; p=0.0036) following vaccination with a single dose of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine. It appeared that all vaccinated individuals were protected against Ebola virus infection within 6 to 10 days of vaccination. According to Nature, the authors of the paper put its true effectiveness at between 75% and 100%.

To date, more than 4,000 participants have received the vaccine in this innovative trial, called "Ebola �a suffit" or "Ebola, that's enough." The trial was conducted by a team that included researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Health Ministry of Guinea and M�decins sans Fronti�res, among others.

Comment: �We believe the world is on the verge of an efficacious Ebola vaccine," Marie-Paule Kieny, the World Health Organization's assistant director-general for health systems and innovation, said during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

See: "Efficacy and effectiveness of an rVSV-vectored vaccine expressing Ebola surface glycoprotein: interim results from the Guinea ring vaccination cluster-randomised trial" Ana Maria Henao-Restrepo et al. The Lancet, July 31, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)61117-5