Buried way deep down in the press release pile was a notice from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services that they are fast-tracking an ebola VACCINE.
Getting a $5.8 million boost of cash from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a prototype vaccine is getting kicked into high gear for animal testing, then FDA approval, then testing on humans.
Here’s the big quote… “In the DoD-supported studies, a single dose of the experimental Ebola vaccine provided 100 percent protection in non-human primates. BARDA will support further development of the vaccine against the Ebola virus strain responsible for the current epidemic.”
So good news – this prototype vaccine works great so far, and maybe ebola will soon be as dangerous as a common flu strain.
Bad news – there’s still awhile to go before it hits the general population, since “phase 2 clinical efficacy trials for these vaccine candidates are expected in 2015.”
