Ebola vaccine trials 'encouraging', says GSK

GlaxoSmithKline could start vaccinating thousands of frontline healthcare workers early next year following positive trials

Liberian men paint on a wall as part of a sensitization programme about the deadly Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia
The global death toll from Ebola has risen to 5,689 out of 15,935 cases reported in eight countries Credit: Photo: EPA

Thousands of health care workers in Sierra Leone and Liberia could be given an experimental Ebola vaccine early next year after GlaxoSmithKline said trials of drug were "encouraging".

The British pharmaceutical giant, which is co-developing the vaccine with the US National Institutes of Health, said each of the 20 healthy adult volunteers involved in its trial showed an “immunological response” and that the drug was “well tolerated”.

Dr Moncef Slaoui, chairman of Global Vaccines at GSK, said: “We are very encouraged by these positive first trial results, showing this type of vaccine has an acceptable safety profile and can produce an immune response against Ebola in humans.”

GSK added that development of the vaccine was progressing “at an unprecedented rate”.

If phase-one trials in the UK, Switzerland and Mali produce similar results, GSK will vaccinate frontline health care workers against Ebola in affected countries.

The global death toll from Ebola has risen to 5,689 out of 15,935 cases reported in eight countries by November 23, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

Almost all cases and all but 15 deaths have been in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - the three hardest-hit countries, which reported 600 new cases in the past week, the WHO said in its latest update.

"The total number of cases reported in Sierra Leone since the outbreak began will soon eclipse the number reported from Liberia," it said. The former British colony has reported 6,599 cases against 7,168 in Liberia.