April 1, 2015 Ottawa, ON Public Health Agency of Canada
The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, and Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Gregory Taylor, today welcomed the news of promising trial outcomes of Canada’s VSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine. The results of several studies and trials bring the world closer to ending this global outbreak through the provision of a commercially available vaccine.
Canada’s VSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine proved to be safe and effective in a Phase 1 clinical trial, according to findings published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. These studies were performed at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to explore the experimental vaccine’s safety and what immune response it evokes when administered at different dosages.
Other Phase 1 studies have been conducted at a variety of sites worldwide, including Halifax, Nova Scotia where Canada’s VSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine was tested by the Canadian Immunization Research Network on volunteers. The results of this trial were essential in determining an appropriate and safe dosage.
Scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory developed Canada’s VSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine used in these studies. The Canadian government owns the intellectual property associated with this vaccine. It has been licensed to NewLink Genetics, and on November 24, 2014, NewLink Genetics and Merck announced their collaboration on the vaccine.
Michael Bolkenius
Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose
Federal Minister of Health
(613) 957-0200
Media Relations
Public Health Agency of Canada
(613) 957-2983
