The first Ebola vaccine has recently been approved in Europe. It is the same one deployed under “compassionate use” during the outbreak in the DRC.

STAT

Frazier said Merck will also work with the World Health Organization on vaccine prequalification, a process in which the global health agency assesses vaccines and other medical processes in order to assure member countries that they are safe and effective. Developing countries often use WHO prequalification as guidance when they make their own decisions about whether to license a product.

The European Commission said licensing a vaccine has been a priority since the devastating outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016, when more than 28,000 people were infected and over 11,000 died. It remains the largest Ebola outbreak in known history.

While the FDA has until March 2020 to issue a decision, a representative said recently that it expects to issue a ruling “well ahead of” the March action date.

The vaccine, which protects against the Zaire species of Ebola, was designed at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory with funding from the U.S. government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Dr. Heinz Feldmann led the research. He now heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ virology laboratory in Hamilton, Mont.

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Death (% and #) trends due to Ebola in select countries:

Source: IHME/GBD 2017/University of Washington