
The licensing of the first Ebola vaccine is a great achievement for the global healthcare community. What made it possible, and what lessons can we use to prevent and control future outbreaks?
This week the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved licensure of the Merck Ebola Vaccine (Ervebo).
In 2014-2015, Wellcome supported the clinical trials for safety and efficacy for Ervebo as part of a momentous global collaborative effort of researchers, governments, NGOs, companies and funders coming together to accelerate a vaccine for Ebola.
This was the start of my journey into epidemics, so I am very proud, humbled and excited to see that approval has been granted.
Licensure means that the EMA have reviewed the package of data on Ervebo collected during clinicals trials and deemed it meets the necessary efficacy and safety levels for use.
If you think back to the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014, across three countries with over 28,000 suspected cases and 11,000 deaths – we had no vaccines, no treatments, no nothing. Just five short years later we have an approved and safe vaccine, something that many people said would never have been possible (vaccine development traditionally takes twice as long and can be up to 20 years).
The speed at which the global health community has pulled together has been remarkable and ultimately means that the future responses to Ebola can be quicker and simpler, with more lives protected and saved.
Approved licensure of Ervebo provides further relief and support for patients, the field and healthcare workers and leaders in communities threated by Ebola.
In the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), many people continue to put themselves in high risk situations to ensure that communities who need the vaccine are able to get it. Further complexity has come from the unsettled and potentially violent situation in North Kivu. Add to this the need for lengthy patient consultation including explanation of consent forms, patient history and extensive examination on who patients may have been in contact with – required as the unlicensed vaccine was used under ‘compassionate use’ according to a ring vaccination strategy.
Ervebo licensure means it can be given with less process, paperwork and burden on patients or those trying to help them. And it can now be considered more flexibly by the leaders of countries at risk from Ebola outbreaks as they plan how best to protect their communities and health care workers.
Epidemics of Ebola are inevitable, but the licensing of the vaccine by the EMA is a first step in being better prepared to prevent and control future Ebola outbreaks. It also shows how far we can come when multiple sectors come together to address a collective goal.
We can learn and do things better during the next epidemic, but for now let’s celebrate this momentous event!