Ebola vaccine developed in Canada may be 1st approved for use

A World Health Organization official says an Ebola vaccine developed in Canada may be the first to be approved for use, possibly before the year is out.

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Marie-Paule Kieny says data from the first safety studies in humans of two experimental vaccines should be available by November.

She says if they are deemed safe to use, it could open the door initially for use in health-care workers tending the sick.

One of the experimental vaccines was developed at Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

The company which licensed that vaccine, NewLink Genetics, announced this week that it had received approval from the U-S Food and Drug Administration to start safety testing of the vaccine.

Kieny says it will likely be the first one used.

Kieny made the comment yesterday after a two-day meeting in Geneva involving nearly 200 scientists, public health experts and others involved in developing drugs and vaccines.