Health Canada approves clinical trial for Moderna’s mRNA Ebola vaccine

Health Canada has authorized pharmaceutical company Moderna to move forward with a clinical trial for an mRNA vaccine targeting the Ebola virus strain currently fuelling an explosive outbreak abroad. Canada is now the second country to authorize a Phase I clinical trial for a Bundibugyo virus vaccine candidate after the U.K., according to federal officials in a news release.There is currently no licensed vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo virus disease, the strain of Ebola disease that is responsible for the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There have been no cases of Ebola disease in Canada.Participants in the authorized Phase I clinical trial will “be given a dose of the candidate vaccine and researchers will assess whether the participants’ immune system starts making antibodies to the Bundibugyo virus.”They will not be injected with the virus itself, Health Canada says. Story continues below advertisement Following the completion of the trial, Moderna is required to “conduct additional clinical trial phases before it could seek approval from Health Canada for the vaccine.” 1:39 Ebola outbreak continues to spread in Eastern Congo Eastern Congo’s remote ...