Glaxosmithkline Share News (GSK)

Sixty healthy Britons will take part in a trial for a vaccine against Ebola at Oxford.The volunteers will be injected with the virus by experts at the University of Oxford in a fast-tracked process which aims to stop the spread of the fatal disease.The vaccine was developed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and UK drug company GlaxoSmithKline.A grant of £2.8m was given by the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the UK Department for International Development to the university in order to quickly find a vaccine to combat the virus.Professor Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, conducted the tests of the vaccine alongside similar trials in the USA.Hill said last month: “The tragic events unfolding in Africa demand an urgent response. In recent years, similar investigational vaccines have safely immunised infants and adults against a range of diseases including malaria, HIV and Hepatitis C.“We, and all our partners on this project, are optimistic that this candidate vaccine may prove useful against Ebola.”International development secretary Justine Greening said: “Britain is a world leader in medical research and mobilising our unique strengths to find a vaccine could be pivotal to containing Ebola and preventing future outbreaks.”Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are the countries that have been worst-hit by the outbreak, which has so far caused the deaths of more than 2,400 people, half of which were in Liberia.However, patients have been successfully treated by experimental treatments in America.The US is planning to send 3,000 troops to Liberia in a bid to tackle the Ebola virus, officials revealed on Monday.US President Barack Obama is sending the military support to help construct new treatment centres, distribute homecare kits and aid in the training of staff, the White House said.A meeting has been convened by United Nations officials to plans an international response to the crisis.