British scientists at Oxford University have rapidly developed a new Ebola vaccine and launched a UK safety trial, using the same viral vector technology as the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The jab, named ChAdOx1 BDBV, is the first of four candidate vaccines to enter clinical trials and targets the Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain responsible for a devastating outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Ebola Outbreak in DRC Triggers Rapid Response
The outbreak, declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO), has claimed 625 lives and confirmed 1,792 infections through laboratory tests. The Oxford team created the vaccine in just 57 days after the WHO declaration, a stark contrast to traditional vaccine development timelines that can span a decade.
Professor Teresa Lambe, lead scientific investigator at the Jenner Institute, said: “The ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak continues to devastate affected communities, underlining the urgent need for effective vaccines and treatments. This milestone comes after only 57 days since the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.”
Technology Behind the Vaccine
The vaccine uses a harmless chimpanzee adenovirus (ChAdOx1) as a vector to deliver genetic material from the Bundibugyo ebolavirus into human cells, training the immune system to recognise and fight the real virus. This same platform was used in the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which is estimated to have saved six million lives globally. However, that vaccine was later associated with rare blood clots in about one in 100,000 recipients, and experts acknowledge the Ebola jab could carry a similar small risk.
Dr Katrina Pollock, chief investigator of the trial at the University of Oxford, told the BBC that her team thought “very deeply” about the implications for trials on healthy people. She stressed that any risk would be communicated to volunteers, adding: “I want to stress that the Covid AstraZeneca vaccine was given to millions of people safely.”
Trial Design and Next Steps
The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the first-in-human trial after the vaccine showed promise in tests on mice and macaque monkeys. The initial Phase I trial will assess safety and immune response in 50 healthy adults aged 18 to 55 in the UK. Volunteers will be monitored for a year, but scientists expect to determine the vaccine’s protective potential quickly.
Vaccine researcher Alex Sampson told the BBC: “As soon as we heard there was an outbreak, we were able to scale up really, really quickly. We're doing all the same tests that we would normally do, just we're able to do them in parallel, so it means a lot of teams working in lots of different places around the clock.”
Scientists are also preparing for a second trial in Uganda, where the outbreak has spread. Some 620,000 doses have already been stockpiled at the Serum Institute of India.
Global Health Implications
Dr Nicole Lurie, executive director of preparedness and response at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), said: “The deadly Bundibugyo epidemic is already the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record, and infection numbers are continuing to rise. The University of Oxford's work to progress their Bundibugyo vaccine candidate ready to enter Phase I trials in a matter of weeks is a pivotal milestone in the response effort. Every step that brings a safe and effective vaccine closer helps strengthen our ability to protect vulnerable communities, save lives and bring this outbreak under control.”
No approved vaccines or treatments currently exist for the Bundibugyo species, one of six distinct Ebola strains. The Oxford team’s rapid progress offers hope in containing the outbreak and preventing future epidemics.
