A promising Marburg vaccine developed by the same Oxford scientists behind the Covid-19 jab has yet to be tested in humans due to a lack of funding.
Professor Teresa Lambe, a vaccinologist at the University of Oxford, said Marburg virus is “now being seen in places where it’s never been seen before,” citing West Africa and, specifically, Ghana, which declared its first-ever outbreak earlier this month.
There are no vaccines against the virus, which can kill up to 88 per cent of people it infects, and nor are there any treatments available.
Prof Lambe and her team have developed a vaccine which appears to generate a “good immune response” in animals, but they are unable to test the jab in human trials because of limited funding.
“We’ve been able to get money to progress this to a stage where we can make a product that is ready to go in people’s arms,” she told The Independent. “But we haven’t yet got any money to get the vaccine into clinical trial.
“That’s certainly something that we will be looking to do as soon as we’ve got the vaccine ready. This speaks to the whole field where we’re able to make these vaccines, but there isn’t funding that will allow us to test these vaccines or get them across the finish line.”
Read the full story on the Department of Paediatrics website.