PSI researchers have recently discussed their ongoing work on Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines and treatments at a Science Media Centre briefing and with several UK and global outlets. Here we present a selection of the coverage:
Vaccines
Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology and PSI and Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) Investigator, said that doses of the ChAdOx1 BDBV vaccine candidate could be ready for human testing within two to three months.
“We are working as hard and fast as we can. And we’ve got some great partners globally. The Serum Institute of India, our onsite manufacturing facility – the CBF”, she told Reuters.
“We are getting the materials that we need to make the vaccine at scale to the Serum Institute quickly.”
As reported in The Indian Express, “the aim is to produce a single-dose vaccine, similar to the licensed Ebola Zaire vaccine.”
Further coverage of the Oxford vaccine efforts followed in outlets including the BMJ, Bloomberg, and The Sun.
Therapeutics
The PARTNERS trial is being reactivated in the DRC and Uganda to test and evaluate potential treatments – initially expected to be a combination of monoclonal antibodies (MBP134) and antivirals (such as remdesivir).
PSI’s Associate Professor Amanda Rojek said to The Times: “The sticking point is making sure that these drugs are first safe, and the second thing is that they work and they do what we hope they do, which is improve survival for these patients.”
In the same article, PSI Director Professor Sir Peter Horby commented on the design of the trial: “What we’ve learnt is that, in those difficult contexts, you can effectively streamline trials hugely, but still get all the safety and efficacy data that you need.”
Further coverage of the trial can be found in Science and The Indian Express among others.
Global impact
In The Indian Express, OVG Director and PSI Investigator Professor Sir Andrew Pollard highlighted the impact of funding cuts on outbreak response: “There is little doubt that reductions in aid funding weaken the capacity to detect outbreaks early. While I can’t speak to the specific evidence in this particular case, fewer personnel on the ground are now connected to international aid networks, which clearly increases risk.”
Professor Sir Peter Horby commented in The Times: “We’ve shown from Covid and other outbreaks we know what to do for diagnostics, drugs and treatments,” he said. “What we need is international, broad commitment, leadership and financing.”