Lessons Learned from the Development and Roll-Out of the rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP Zaire ebolavirus Vaccine to Inform Marburg Virus and Sudan ebolavirus Vaccines

Beth-Ann G Coller; William Lapps Jr; Mahum Yunus; Samantha Bruno; Michael J Eichberg; Andrew Wen-Tseng Lee; Kenneth Liu; Rosybel Drury; Jules Millogo; Louis Robert Macareo; Thomas H Armstrong; Jeffrey T Blue; Lynne A Isopi; Melissa Hughes; Susan M VanRheenen; Jonathan Deutsch; Joan G Tell; Sheri A Dubey

doi:10.3390/vaccines10091446

Lessons Learned from the Development and Roll-Out of the rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP Zaire ebolavirus Vaccine to Inform Marburg Virus and Sudan ebolavirus Vaccines

Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Sep 1;10(9):1446. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10091446.

Authors

Beth-Ann G Coller¹, William Lapps Jr¹, Mahum Yunus¹, Samantha Bruno¹, Michael J Eichberg¹, Andrew Wen-Tseng Lee¹, Kenneth Liu¹, Rosybel Drury², Jules Millogo¹, Louis Robert Macareo¹, Thomas H Armstrong¹, Jeffrey T Blue¹, Lynne A Isopi¹, Melissa Hughes¹, Susan M VanRheenen¹, Jonathan Deutsch¹, Joan G Tell¹, Sheri A Dubey¹

Affiliations

¹ Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
² MSD, 69007 Lyon, France.

Abstract

This review describes key aspects of the development of the rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP Ebola vaccine and key activities which are continuing to further expand our knowledge of the product. Extensive partnerships and innovative approaches were used to address the various challenges encountered during this process. The rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP Ebola vaccine was initially approved by the European Medicines Agency and prequalified by the World Health Organization in November 2019. It was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in December 2019 and approved in five African countries within 90 days of prequalification. The development resulted in the first stockpile of a registered Ebola vaccine that is available to support outbreak response. This also provides insights into how the example of rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP can inform the development of vaccines for Sudan ebolavirus, Marburg virus, and other emerging epidemic diseases in terms of the types of approaches and data needed to support product registration, availability, and the use of a filovirus vaccine.

Keywords: ERVEBO®; Marburg virus; Sudan ebolavirus; Zaire ebolavirus; rVSV; recombinant vaccine; vesicular stomatitis virus.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Editorial assistance was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA. Support for the development of the rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP vaccine by MSD was provided in part with Federal Funds from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, under contract HDTRA1-15-C-0058, and from the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under contracts HHS010020150002C, HHSO10020160031C, and HHSO100201700012C.