Congo (Democratic Republic)

The Democratic Republic of Congo, the country worst hit by the mpox crisis, has now received the first batch of vaccines for the disease. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is expected to complete its review for emergency use listing of mpox vaccines soon.

Manufacturer KM Biologics has confirmed to the Pink Sheet it has filed for an emergency use listing to WHO for its mpox vaccine LC16, which has shown efficacy for post-exposure prophylaxis within 14 days, although its efficacy for pre-exposure prophylaxis is still inconclusive.

An emergency use listing means the vaccines can be approved for use in lower-income countries where they are not licensed, and will allow international organizations like Gavi and UNICEF to procure them for wider distribution.

Regulators have pulled out all the stops in their efforts to get the Ebola vaccine to the marketing authorization stage in Africa. 

As stockpiles of Ebola vaccine are being built up around the world, Médecins sans Frontières has said more action is needed to ensure sufficient numbers of vaccinations are available for use in current and future outbreaks. 

Following its recent EU approval, moves are under way to make Merck’s Ervebo vaccine available in countries at risk of Ebola.

Merck Sharp & Dohme will begin manufacturing licensed doses of Ervebo in Germany and will continue to send investigational vaccine doses to Democratic Republic of Congo.

People at risk of contracting the Ebola virus in the latest outbreak in the Democractic Republic of Congo are to have another vaccination option in the form of Janssen’s experimental prime-boost vaccine regimen, Ad26.ZEBOV/MVA-BN.

RCT with 7,300 women in four countries shows women who take a lipid-based supplement before pregnancy and early in gestation were 31% less likely to have an infant shorter in length and 22% less likely to deliver an infant small for gestational age.

A clinical trial involving four experimental therapies against Ebola virus disease has begun in the DRC, where efforts to stem a growing epidemic are being hindered by a sharp increase in cases of malaria in the northeast of the country.