Medecine. The race to find an Ebola vaccine
FAST. Switzerland is playing a central role in the development of a vaccine against Ebola with trials underway in Lausanne and Geneva hospitals.
The current Ebola epidemics in West Africa has ignited a race to produce a vaccine. Due to the gravity of the situation, the World Health Organization has endorsed speeding up the experimental trial period needed for the production of a vaccine.
In Switzerland, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, Swissmedic, has approved two vaccines for testing.
The first vaccine is produced by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Testing on approximately 120 healthy individuals began at the end of October at Lausanne University Hospital. Scientists at Canada’s Public Health Agency developed the second experimental vaccine. This trial was approved on November 6 and is being tested on around 115 healthy individuals at Geneva University Hospital. (SwissInfo)
