Merck & Co. Inc. and NewLink Genetics Corporation have initiated the third, late-stage, clinical trial of their Ebola vaccine candidate, rVSV-ZEBOV-GP (V920), this time in Sierra Leone. The vaccine candidate was originally developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory and licensed to NewLink Genetics in 2010. In November 2014, Merck and NewLink Genetics announced an exclusive licensing and collaboration agreement for the investigational Ebola vaccine.

The Merck and NewLink rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine candidate is now included in three large-scale clinical trials currently underway in West Africa. In addition to the trial in Sierra Leone, these trials are Liberia and Guinea.

Source: Merck & Co.