Jun. 25 at 4:51 PM
$VXRT South San Francisco-based Vaxart recently announced it would revive development of an experimental vaccine it stopped in 2012 due to low interest. So far, no vaccines for Ebola have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. However, the most recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa that started in March has companies like Vaxart jumping on the chance to help combat the disease.
The 20-person biotechnology company that develops vaccine technology for the treatment of infectious diseases, located at 385 Oyster Point Blvd., is working on developing an oral Ebola vaccine. It recently reported that it will ask the FDA to begin early safety clinical trials in humans in early 2015. During this most recent epidemic, so far, about 5,000 people have died from Ebola.
“It’s an enormous step forward to address the challenges on the ground in West Africa,” said Vaxart CEO Wouter Latour. “We’d love to get the necessary resources for full-on services.”