MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Phase I of clinical trials of a Russian vaccine against the Ebola virus has shown highly promising results, Russia's Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Friday.
"We can practically speak of the end of the first phase of clinical trials, which showed very good results," Skvortsova told RIA Novosti.
According to the minister, the vaccine was tested on around 200 healthy volunteers, and was "very well tolerated, had a very low percentage of minor side effects."
Skvortsova added that phase II of trials to determine the level of vaccine’s immunogenicity, the strength of antibody response, was about to begin. Researchers hope to get preliminary results in November, with final results on the second stage due in December, she said.
The most recent Ebola outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013, spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone, in West Africa. The death toll stands at 11,296, according to the World Health Organization. Liberia earlier this month officially declared an end to the epidemic within its borders.
Russia has pledged $11.7 million over three years for joint research with Guinea to combat infectious diseases and train medical personnel.
