A Phase 1 clinical trial of investigational vaccines intended to protect against Zaire ebolavirus (Ebola) is underway atCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centerin the United States. The study is sponsored by theNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

 

Cincinnati Children's is one of nine NIH/NIAID-funded Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs). Part of an international effort to stop Ebola from spreading, the trial will test two experimental vaccines together for their safety and ability to produce an immune response in healthy volunteer participants.

 

"Researchers are looking for new ways to stop these outbreaks and to treat people who become infected and develop Ebola virus disease. The development of preventive vaccines for Ebola is a top global public health priority," saidPaul Spearman, MD, of Cincinnati Children's and lead investigator of the trial. He is director of the ivision of Infectious Diseases.

 

Researchers on the current study will examine how the vaccines work in the body to stimulate responses in the immune system that may protect against Ebola viruses. Laboratory evaluations of the vaccines are led by Karnail Singh, PhD, in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children's. Singh's laboratory focuses on the development, characterization and evaluation of candidate vaccines for Ebola virus disease.

 

The trial is studying two experimental Ebola vaccines; the ChAd3-EBO-Z vaccine and the MVA-BN-Filo vaccine. These are weakened live-vector vaccines that cannot effectively grow in human cells but generate strong immune responses to Ebola virus proteins.

A Phase 1 clinical trial of investigational vaccines intended to protect against Zaire ebolavirus (Ebola) is underway atCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centerin the United States