Merck's investigational Ebola vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, had a 100 percent efficacy in interim data from a Phase 3 ring vaccination trial in Guinea.
Here are five key points:
1. The analysis of the data revealed that the vaccine protected all vaccinated individuals from Ebola virus within six to 10 day of vaccination.
2. Translated, the trial is called, "Ebola, that's enough," within which more than 4,000 participants have received the vaccine.
3. Researchers from the World Health Organization, Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Health Ministry of Guinea and Médecins sans Frontières all helped conduct the trial.
4. More than 9,000 people have been vaccinated by the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine in phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials.
5. The vaccine was created by weakening the vesicular stomatitis virus by removing one of its genes. This gene was then replaced with a single Ebola virus gene that could not cause the disease alone. Vaccinated people then develop antibodies against the Ebola virus.
"Merck has an enduring commitment to develop vaccines and medicines that address the world's most devastating infectious diseases," said Roger M. Perlmutter, MD, PhD, president of Merck Research Laboratories.
