If approved, the vaccine would become one of the world's first licensed Ebola vaccines.

Agreement to push Ebola vaccine towards approval

A $5 million agreement to support the provision of an Ebola vaccine has been signed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and global healthcare leader Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp (MSD).

Announced yesterday (20 Jan) at the World Economic Forum in Davis, the agreement will help push the vaccine towards regulatory approval.

Under the Advance Purchase Commitment, Gavi has provided the funding towards the development of MSD's Ebloa Zaire vaccine on the understanding that it will be submitted for approval by the end of 2017.

If approved, the vaccine would become one of the world's first licensed Ebola vaccines and Gavi would be able to begin purchasing the vaccine to create a stockpile for future outbreaks.

“The suffering caused by the Ebola crisis was a wake-up call to many in the global health community,” said Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley.

“New threats require smart solutions and our innovative financing agreement with Merck will ensure that we are ahead of the curve for future Ebola outbreaks.” 

Dr Julie Gerberding, executive vice president, strategic communications, global public policy and population health for Merck, added: “We are very pleased to join with Gavi in announcing this Advance Purchase Commitment agreement to support the provision of MSD’s investigational monovalent Ebola Zaire vaccine - in case of a resurgence of the Ebola outbreak or a new outbreak.

“We applaud Gavi for this bold step to be a part of the solution to address a disease that has impacted so many lives.”

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has claimed the lives of more than 11,300 people and infected more than 28,600.

On 14 January, WHO announced that no new cases of Ebola had been reported in the three worst affected countries in the preceding 42 days.

Just hours after the announcement, which included a warning that sporadic flare-ups could occur, a case of Ebola was reported in Sierra Leone.