Two vaccines designed for the Bundibugyo strain will join the Ebola trial in Congo, with Antwerp partners
The World Health Organization is adding an Oxford vaccine and a Moderna mRNA vaccine to the ongoing study, the first time vaccines against this Ebola strain will be tested during an outbreak.
Expert groups at the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended adding two new candidate vaccines to the Tumaini study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the WHO announced on Wednesday. They are ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna's mRNA-1469. Both were designed specifically against the Bundibugyo virus behind the current outbreak, the WHO and the Turkish news outlet Anews reported. They can only enter the trial once national approvals are in place.
The study is led by Congo's INRB research institute, supported among others by the University of Antwerp, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Médecins Sans Frontières and Africa CDC. It uses ring vaccination, in which contacts of confirmed patients are immunised. Ervebo, a vaccine approved for the Zaire strain but not for Bundibugyo, has been tested since late October, VRT NWS reported. Four rings are active and several more are being prepared; results are expected in early 2027.
Research into treatments is also under way. The PARTNERS trial has been testing since July whether the monoclonal antibody MBP134, the antiviral remdesivir or a combination improves survival; maftivimab will be added soon. A separate study is looking at obeldevisir as a preventive treatment after exposure. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that vaccines alone will not end the outbreak.
According to Tedros, more than 10,000 cases and 5,000 deaths have been reported in Congo, and new hotspots keep emerging, Anews writes. Kenya has nine cases, including two deaths, and Nigeria one confirmed case. Tedros urged countries to lift travel restrictions, arguing that they penalise countries for sharing information openly. VRT NWS also reported on Wednesday that a British citizen in Congo had tested positive; UK authorities say the risk to Britain remains low.