Top Story, Pharma

An inhalable Ebola vaccine could be on the horizon

The best way to prevent the spread of Ebola might end up coming in a nontraditional form.

The need for effective preventative measures in handling the spread of Ebola continue to be of high importance as Liberia now has more cases of the virus following the country being declared Ebola-free just two months ago.

A team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the National Institutes of Health has now developed an inhalable vaccine that has proven to be effective in primates.

“A needle-free, inhalable vaccine against Ebola presents certain advantages,” lead author Michelle Meyer from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston said in a statement. “Immunization will not require trained medical personnel.”

The study, recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, looked at how the vaccination delivered directly to the respiratory tract, in the form of liquid or aerosol, compares to an injectible Ebola vaccine.

With no licensed Ebola vaccines currently approved, this research shows additional promise that one could realistically be available in the near future.

“This study demonstrates successful aerosol vaccination against a viral hemorrhagic fever for the first time,” said virologist Alex Bukreyev, UTMB professor and a senior author. “A single-dose aerosol vaccine would enable both prevention and containment of Ebola infections, in a natural outbreak setting where healthcare infrastructure is lacking or during bioterrorism and biological warfare scenarios.”

As EurekAlert reported from a public statement:

The findings of this study provide the basis for advancing this experimental vaccine to an NIH phase I clinical study. Pending approval through an Investigative New Drug Application, the aerosolized form of the vaccine will be evaluated for replication, safety and immunity development in a study in adults.

Photo: Flickr user Darin House

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