Oxford Is In Clinical Trials With A Bi-Valent Ebola Vaccine Candidate: Good News Sunday

While the current Merck (Zaire variant) vaccine is by far the most widely-available, and efficacious one in sub-Saharan Africa, there is a real need for a vaccine that would be effective against the Sudanese variant, as well.

So it is very good news out of the BBC, this Sunday, that we can report that Oxford University, across the pond, is now running clinical trials for a bi-valent version. It is expected to report out by mid-2022. The new vaccine relies on the same bio-science approach (a simian cellular container shell, spiked with genetic material from the target, but killed viral loads) that the Merck jab deploys so successfully, and so by all rights, it ought to prove out. But as ever, we must wait to see, here:

. . .The jab has been designed to tackle the Zaire and Sudan types of Ebola, which together have caused nearly all Ebola outbreaks and deaths worldwide.

The University of Oxford has launched phase one of its trials, testing the vaccine in human volunteers.

Ebola vaccines exist for the Zaire species but Oxford researchers hope the new jab will have a wider reach.

Teresa Lambe, lead scientific investigator at the University of Oxford, said: "Sporadic Ebolavirus outbreaks still occur in affected countries, putting the lives of individuals, especially frontline health workers, at risk. We need more vaccines to tackle this devastating disease."

There are four species of Ebola virus that have been known to cause disease in humans. Of these, Zaire is the most lethal, causing death in 70% to 90% of cases if left untreated. . . .

Now you know -- as bio-science moves. . . ever, onward. Ever toward a better, less lethal future -- for us all. Smiling as I wander off to my flannel sheets. . . with intermittent but large snow-flakes, lazily wheeling down, from the blackened skies now. . . brrrr.

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