A scientist leading Britain’s response to Ebola epidemic has reportedly attacked big pharmaceutical companies for failing to manufacture a vaccine not because it was impossible but because there was ‘no business case.’ Professor Adrian Hill of Oxford University, who is leading a team of researchers who will soon begin trials of an experimental Ebola vaccine to contain the epidemic, said that if a vaccine had been developed and stockpiled sooner, the disease could have been ‘nipped in the bud,’ reported The Independent.

The scientist said that big pharmaceutical companies like, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi, Merck and Pfizer, refused to develop vaccines because the market for such vaccines wasn’t big. There was no business case for developing Ebola vaccine for the people who needed it the most- firstly because of the nature of the outbreak; secondly, the number of people affected was not high and lastly, the people affected by the disease belonged to some of the poorest countries of the world and could not afford to pay for a new vaccine, he said.

The vaccine developed by Professor Hill’s team and Britain’s GSK and America’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be used to protect health workers in Africa by December if it passes safety and effectiveness trials. Ebola has claimed over 2,000 lives so far. The scale of the outbreak has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to expedite the normal drug development processes. An experimental drug ZMapp, developed by Mapp, a small pharmaceutical firm in the United States, has been used to treat seven patients earlier and has demonstrated promising results in trials on primates.

Latest Ebola Treatment News

The ZMapp

Till now the most effective drug against the Ebola virus has proven to be the ZMapp – a combination of antibodies – that has helped cure two US doctors. The drug is designed to target and inactivate the ebola virus, and is a combination of three different antibodies. The ZMapp works in the same way our natural immune system does only in a more specific way.

Japan’s Avigan

Japan has said that it’s ready to provide a Japanese-developed anti-influenza drug to treat the deadly Ebola Virus. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news agency: ‘Our country is prepared to provide the yet-to-be approved drug in cooperation with the manufacturer if the WHO requests’. The drug is called Avigan and has been developed by Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp subsidiary Toyama Chemical. The generic name of the drug is favipiravir. The company is also in talks with the USFDA to expand the use of the drug for treatment of Ebola.

Canadian Ebola Vaccine

A vaccine developed by Canadian company Immunovaccine Inc., was found to be protective against Ebola virus in animals. Four monkeys infected with the Ebola virus survived after being injected the vaccine. The company declared the study results on Monday which caused its stock markets to soar high. (Read: Vaccine for Ebola on the way)

The Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company said that the four monkeys were first vaccinated and later a lethal dose of Ebola virus was injected in them. While these four animals survived the viral attack, two monkeys in the control group, who did not receive the vaccine, died within a week. The company started the production of Ebola vaccine few months back after the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggested Immunovaccine to develop vaccine for Ebola implementing the technology used by the company in the development of anthrax vaccine. (Read: Canada donates experimental Ebola vaccine to the WHO)

The vaccine production work was a part of NIH tests on potential antigens, agents (substances) that trigger the immune system to produce antibodies against the Ebola virus. The antigen present in this vaccine does not use a same virus to attack the cells unlike antigens of other early-stage Ebola vaccines.



http://www.thehealthsite.com/news/latest-ebola-news-big-pharma-to-blame-for-lack-of-ebola-vaccine/

Always knew someone was blocking Avigan from being supplied to Nigeria. . . The reddened being evidence. WHO una well done oh! We requested Avigan from Japan since late August its been well over 2 weeks now. . . . No news. USA ET WHO at work!

Federal govt to ban the sale and consumption of ponmo (cow-skin)

According to reports Federal government is set to ban the sales and consumption of cow skin popularly referred to as (Pomo ) in Nigeria . Read full details here http://gossiptwist..com/2014/09/federal-govt-set-to-ban-sales-and.html

Cool story!