Johnson&Johnson Applies To European Medicines Agency To Get License For Ebola Vaccine

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2019) Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies owned by US Johnson&Johnson (J&J) company has applied to the European medicines Agency for a European marketing authorization to obtain a license for an experimental Ebola vaccine, J&J said on Thursday.

"Following years of research in collaboration with global partners, Johnson & Johnson is proud to announce submission of license applications from @JanssenGlobal for its investigational Ebola vaccine regimen to the European Medicines Agency," the company wrote on Twitter.

Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer of Johnson & Johnson Paul Stoffels stressed that this vaccine would ensure global preparedness for dealing with Ebola outbreaks around the world and especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

"It is vital that we ensure global preparedness for Ebola given that the world's largest Ebola outbreaks have taken place in the last six years alone, with the latest currently underway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," he said.

In just over a year, the Ebola epidemic has become the second deadliest on record with over 2,000 deaths. A 2014-15 outbreak in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people.

The Ebola virus is transmitted from human to human through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person. The World Health Organization estimates it to have a 50 percent fatality rate. The current pandemic began in the DRC in July 2018.