Moderna begins Phase 1 clinical trial of Ebola vaccine against strain behind DRC outbreak
Moderna has begun a Phase 1 clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine set to target the Bundibugyo strain, which is currently circulating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the pharmaceutical company announced Tuesday.
The first participants were vaccinated in Canada with the candidate, mRNA-1469. The vaccine will be using the same mRNA platform that Moderna used to develop its vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first phase of the clinical trial will evaluate the safety and tolerability of the vaccine, with about 80 participants.
If warranted, a Phase 2 and Phase 3 trial will follow. Any approval and subsequent delivery of the vaccine would be months, if not years, away.
There are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines to treat the current strain of Ebola circulating in the eastern DRC, which has seen more than 3,700 cases and 1,600 deaths in the current outbreak.
The Phase 1 trial is being conducted in Canada as part of Moderna's collaboration with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPi), according to the pharmaceutical company. Moderna said that CEPI has committed up to $50 million to support preclinical testing and the Phase 1 clinical trial.
"Vaccinating the first participants with mRNA-1469 marks an important milestone in advancing a vaccine candidate against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which no approved vaccine currently exists," Stéphane Bancel, Moderna's CEO, said in a press release. "We are grateful to CEPI, Health Canada, the investigators and study participants for their contributions to advance this work."
Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEPI's CEO, said getting the vaccine candidate into a Phase 1 clinical trial is "a major step forward" in combatting the deadly outbreak.
"This fast-growing epidemic is already the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history, and cases are rising more quickly than they did in the 2014 -- 2016 West Africa epidemic which remains the largest on record," Hatchett said in the press release. "Every day matters, and every vaccine candidate in clinical trials gives us another shot at getting a safe, effective vaccine to the people who need it as swiftly as possible."
