Merck to pursue Covid-19 vaccine using same approach as against Ebola

(Sharecast News) - US pharmaceutical giant Merck has penned an agreement with researchers at IAVI to develop a vaccine candidate against the novel coronavirus which provokes Covid-19 using the same underlying technology as the ERVEBO vaccine for the Ebola virus.
Merck's ERVEBO employs recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) technology and was the first such vaccine approved for use against Ebola.

Initial funding would be provided by the US government's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the American company said.

"Merck and IAVI are eager to combine our respective strengths to accelerate development of an rVSV vaccine candidate, with the goal of blunting the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Merck Research Labs president, Dr. Roger Perlmutter.

"We believe an rVSV-based vaccine strategy represents a promising approach to combating the novel coronavirus pandemic and look forward to implementing an accelerated development program, together with Merck, to evaluate the potential of our vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2."

The vaccine candidate would be designed and engineered by scientists at IAVI, which boasts a network of clinical research center partners in Africa and India.

If approved, the two organisations said that they would work to make it accessible and affordable globally.

As of 1234 GMT, shares of Merck were trading 3.31% higher at $78.83.