Canada's Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that it has approved the American pharmaceutical giant Moderna to begin clinical trials for a vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
The first phase of this mRNA vaccine trial aims to assess the safety of the vaccine candidate, determine an appropriate dosage range, and identify any side effects, according to the ministry's statement.
Currently, there have been no reported cases of Ebola in Canada. As part of the trial, a dose of the vaccine will be administered to a group of healthy volunteers to evaluate the immune response to the Bundibugyo strain.
If the results are positive, the vaccine will proceed to further clinical studies involving larger groups of people. This vaccine uses the same mRNA technology as the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19.
Canada, which had closed its borders to all foreign nationals recently from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), reached an agreement with the company on July 20 to manufacture the vaccine on Canadian territory.
Currently, there is no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo variant associated with the Ebola outbreak declared on May 15. However, other vaccine candidates are also under development.
Another vaccine candidate, named rVSV Bundibugyo, which the WHO has called 'most promising,' is being developed by the Singaporean company Hilleman Laboratories. Meanwhile, at the end of July, the first volunteer received an initial dose of another Bundibugyo vaccine developed by Oxford University in Britain, which uses a similar technology to the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19.
Treatment is also undergoing clinical trials in accordance with WHO recommendations. Ebola, transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causing hemorrhagic fever, has resulted in the death of over 1700 people in the DRC since May.
