Moderna Ebola vaccine trials authorized in Canada

Canada has authorized Moderna to begin Phase 1 clinical trials of an mRNA vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, the Canadian health ministry said on August 4.

The ministry said the trial will assess the candidate vaccine's safety, determine the right dosage range and identify any side effects. Healthy participants will receive a dose so researchers can assess the antibody response to the Bundibugyo strain.

If the results are positive, the vaccine will move to further clinical trials with larger groups of participants. The vaccine uses the same mRNA technology as Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine.

No Ebola cases have been recorded in Canada. Canada closed its borders on July 20 to foreign nationals who had recently been in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has reached an agreement with Moderna to manufacture the vaccine in Canada.

There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo variant behind the Ebola outbreak declared on May 15. Other vaccine candidates are also under development, including an rVSV Bundibugyo vaccine to be developed by Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories, which the World Health Organization has described as the most promising.

In late July, the first volunteer received an initial dose of another Bundibugyo vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in Britain. Treatments are also undergoing clinical trials in line with WHO recommendations.

Ebola is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and causes hemorrhagic fever. It has killed more than 1,700 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo since May.