Race to test vaccines on humans

As reported in 'The Japan News' : Race to test vaccines on humans 11:10 pm, August 15, 2014 The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP)—Scientists are racing to begin the first human safety tests of two experimental Ebola vaccines, but it won’t be easy to prove that the shots and other potential treatments in the pipeline really work. There are no proven drugs or vaccines for Ebola, a disease so rare that it’s been hard to attract investments in countermeasures. But the current outbreak in West Africa—the largest in history—is fueling new efforts to speed Ebola vaccine and drug development. The handful in the pipeline have largely been funded by government efforts, including the two vaccine candidates that are closest to human study: One developed by the U.S. government that is gearing up for early-stage tests in healthy volunteers this fall, with a second developed by the Canadian government thought to be not far behind. Initial tests typically are performed on a few dozen to 100 people, to look for warning signs of side effects and figure out a good dose—not to prove that they’ll actually protect people against infection with the Ebola virus.