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Ebola
Johnson & Johnson’s Response to the DRC Outbreak
- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is currently facing the world’s second-largest Ebola outbreak on record. More than 3,000 cases, including more than 2,000 deaths, have been reported in the current outbreak to date, making it second only to the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic.
- As part of an expanded public health response, the DRC has decided to introduce Janssen's investigational vaccine alongside other tools. Global health organizations, working in collaboration with DRC stakeholders, began providing the vaccine in November 2019.
- Janssen has committed to provide up to 500,000 vaccine regimens in support of the initiative in the DRC, and up to 200,000 regimens to the neighboring Republic of Rwanda to help stop the outbreak from crossing the DRC border.
- In line with recent recommendations from the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization, the new vaccination initiative in the DRC will offer the Janssen investigational vaccine regimen to individuals at some risk of Ebola infection who live in areas close to the current outbreak zone, with the goal of preventing the further geographic spread of the virus.
The first batches of vaccine have been shipped to the DRC.
We have a responsibility as a leading global healthcare company to do all we can to address this urgent unmet medical need.
Developing effective Ebola vaccines will be critical if we are to combat outbreaks of this disease and protect frontline healthcare workers as well as the families and friends of Ebola victims.
We recognize the urgency of the situation and the need to collaborate with multiple partners to develop preventive solutions for Ebola.
While recognizing this is an investigational vaccine still in development, we have taken pandemic preparedness steps with the goal of ensuring that the world is better equipped for Ebola outbreaks.
About Janssen’s Ebola Vaccine Regimen
The investigational preventive Ebola vaccine regimen in development at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson:
- Consists of two doses leveraging different vaccines (Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo).
- Is well tolerated and induces robust and durable immune responses to the Ebola virus Zaire strain—the cause of the DRC outbreak.
Johnson & Johnson has built a stockpile of up to 1.5 million investigational Ebola vaccine regimens for potential use in public health emergencies.
Ebola: A Timeline
The Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Over the past 40 years, there have been multiple Ebola outbreaks. The worst to date was the West African Ebola epidemic, which caused nearly 30,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths in 2014-2016. The world’s second-largest outbreak is currently underway in the DRC.
2002
Janssen begins Ebola vaccine research program with NIH support
2014
· West Africa Ebola outbreak begins; declared international health emergency
· J&J commits to accelerate development and expand production of an Ebola vaccine
2015
· Announcement of IMI-supported consortia; start of Phase 1 clinical trials in the UK and US
· "EBOVAC-Salone" study begins in Sierra Leone. Additional Phase 3 studies start in US
2016
· First clinical data for Ebola vaccine regimen published in JAMA
2017
· First long-term clinical data published in JAMA
· Second partnership with BARDA to support U.S. licensure of vaccine
2018
Second-largest Ebola outbreak begins in DRC
2019
· J&J announces it will provide up to 700,000 vaccine courses for new initiatives in the DRC and Rwanda to help contain the Ebola outbreak
· Janssen files for European approval of vaccine regimen
2020
50,000 people have been vaccinated with Janssen’s Ebola vaccine to date
2020
European Commission (EC) grants Marketing Authorisation for the Janssen Ebola vaccine regimen for the prevention of Ebola Virus Disease.
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Working in Partnership
Johnson & Johnson has made a significant investment in the Janssen Ebola vaccine development program. We have also forged strategic partnerships with a wide range of the world’s leading scientific and medical research organizations to accelerate our progress.
Commitment to Pandemic Preparedness
Johnson & Johnson is one of the few innovative healthcare companies that is actively engaged on pandemic preparedness and response.
Through our Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, we are developing new vaccines and/or treatments to combat infectious diseases that:
- Are already pandemics, such as HIV, hepatitis B and tuberculosis (TB)
- Or have pandemic potential, including the novel coronavirus, Ebola, Zika and influenza
A look back at Johnson & Johnson’s response to the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa
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