Ebola vaccine trials could start in west Africa in December, with hundreds of thousands of doses potentially being rolled out by mid-2015, the World Health Organisation said today.
"All is being put in place to start efficacy tests in the affected countries as early as December," said WHO assistant director general Marie-Paule Kieny, adding that several hundred thousand doses could be available in the "first half" of next year.
Kieny spoke after the UN health agency held closed-door talks yesterday on potential vaccines with medical experts, officials from Ebola-affected nations, pharmaceutical firms and funding agencies.
Two experimental vaccines are seen as the leading candidates to beat Ebola.
Supplies of Canadian-discovered experimental vaccine rVSV are arriving in Geneva for a new round of trials. Hopes are also centred on ChAd3, made by British company GlaxoSmithKline.
There are five other potential vaccines in the pipeline; Kieny said.Whichever proves its mettle in trials, WHO hopes to deploy huge numbers of doses to Africa for "real-world" tests.
"Vaccine is not the magic bullet, but when ready, it may be a good part of the effort to turn the tide of the epidemic," Kieny said.