WHO convenes consultation on potential Ebola therapies, vaccines

GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday convened a consultation of key experts to discuss experimental therapies and vaccines with potential to treat or prevent the Ebola virus disease.

According to WHO, the 200-odd participants at the two-day close-door meeting included technical experts from companies and organizations developing Ebola interventions and policymakers from Ebola-affected countries, ethicists, clinicians, researchers, regulators and patient representatives.

WHO noted a range of interventions, which include blood products, immune therapies, drugs and vaccines, are under different stages of development. None have yet been licensed for clinical use.

The purpose of the meeting is to obtain the most accurate information on the current state of development of the interventions and inform national regulatory authorities about the status of potential products and foster contacts between affected countries and manufacturers.