Vaccine Development
NIAID Laboratory of Virology
Scientists in the NIAID Laboratory of Virology (LV) are developing vaccines that use an attenuated (weakened) vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) to deliver a portion of an Ebola virus protein to the immune system. This is called a recombinant vector vaccine, in that it modifies the virus used as a vector, or carrier, to reach the immune system. The Ebola protein contained in the vaccine cannot cause disease, but it is enough to stimulate the immune system and teach it how to fight off Ebola virus in the case of future exposure.
LV scientists created a blended VSV-based vaccine by replacing a VSV protein with a glycoprotein (GP) from Ebola or Marburg. The experimental vaccine stimulated immune responses in nonhuman primates and offered complete protection from Ebola and Marburg infection at a dose 1,000 times lower than similar vaccines based on a different vector virus (the adenovirus vector.)
When given to animals after exposure to Ebola virus, the VSV-based vaccines could still prevent the animals from developing illness. This suggests that this form of vaccine could be used to treat disease after a person has been exposed. The LV group and collaborators are currently working on a second-generation VSV vector. Their goal is to get Food and Drug Administration approval for its use in humans as an emergency vaccine or treatment. Read more about research in the NIAID Laboratory of Virology.
NIAID Laboratory of Infectious Diseases
Scientists in NIAID’s Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (LID) are developing a nasal-spray vaccine for Ebola based on human parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV-3). Because Ebola and PIV-3 enter the body in similar ways— through the mouth, eyes, or other mucosal tissue—LID scientists believe that PIV-3 is a good way to deliver the Ebola virus surface protein to the immune system. In guinea pigs and monkeys, the experimental vaccines induced a strong immune response. Read more about the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases.
Vaccine Research Center
Scientists from the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) are developing an Ebola vaccine that will most likely contain two parts: a prime and a boost. One candidate for the prime vaccine is a DNA vaccine. It contains a small piece of genetic material encoding surface proteins from Ebola-Zaire and Ebola-Sudan/Gulu. Later, the immune response is boosted with a second injection. The boost component may consist of a viral vector that delivers the Ebola-Zaire surface protein. Ongoing studies in research using monkeys should guide further vaccine development.
In 2009, expanded clinical trials of an Ebola and Marburg vaccine began in Africa. The trials are being conducted in collaboration with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the US Military HIV Research Program, Makerere University Walter Reed Project in Kampala, Uganda, and the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Program of the Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland.
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