GSK Ebola Shot Is Safe and Provokes an Immune Response
- By BSTQ Staff
Results from a human trial of GlaxoSmithKline’s Ebola vaccine show it is safe and generates an immune response. In the early stage Phase I trial primarily designed to test safety, 60 healthy volunteers were given the vaccine in Britain between Sept. 17 and Nov. 18, 2014. The volunteers received one of three doses: low, medium or high. Data from 28 days after vaccination showed the shot was safe at these doses with only mild side effects. “The safety profile is pretty much as we’d hoped, and the immune responses are OK, but not great,” said Adrian Hill, who led the work at Oxford’s Jenner Institute. “People typically experienced mild symptoms that lasted for one or maybe two days such as pain or reddening at the injection site, and occasionally people felt feverish.” However, the antibody response was weaker than was found in a trial of the same Ebola vaccine in macaque monkeys, in which the animals were also found to be protected. According to Hill, the lower antibody levels, together with a lower response detected in the immune system’s T cells, suggest that a booster may be needed.
