GlaxoSmithKline, Medical Research Council, NIH, Wellcome Trust infectious news

The Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the U.K.’s Department for International Development provided a L2.8 million ($4.7 million) grant to fund trials of an Ebola vaccine candidate from GlaxoSmithKline and NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The candidate is based on chimp adenovirus type 3 (ChAd3), an attenuated strain of chimpanzee cold virus. GSK gained the vaccine through its 2013 acquisition of Okairos AG. The funding will also enable GSK to simultaneously manufacture 10,000 additional doses for the World Health Organization to create an emergency immunization program if the trials are successful (see BioCentury, June 3, 2013). ...