Merck
A logo of bio pharmaceutical company Merck Serono SA is pictured outside the company headquarters in Geneva, April 24, 2012. Germany's Merck will move the headquarters of its prescription drugs unit Merck Serono from Geneva to the German city of Darmstadt, affecting 1,250 jobs. The family-controlled drugmaker said in a statement on Tuesday that more than 750 Geneva positions would be transferred to Darmstadt, Beijing and Boston, with details to be published at a later stage. In addition, Merck plans to cut 500 jobs in Geneva as well as 80 positions across its three Swiss manufacturing sites. Reuters/Valentin Flauraud

To protect the public against another outbreak of the Ebola virus, pharmaceutical giant Merck and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a nonprofit organisation, signed on Wednesday in Davos a $5 million (AUD $7.3 million) agreement.

The Ebola vaccine, or VSV-EBOV, that Merck is developing would be used for further clinical trials or emergencies, reports Newsweek. Gavi announced the deal on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Starting in May 2016, Merck would begin to produce 300,000 doses of the vaccine which would be submitted for licensure by December 2017. Once VSV-EBOV secures approval, it would be one of the first licenced Ebola vaccines globally, according to Gavi.

The project was funded by governments, companies, UN agencies and philanthropic groups such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reports Bloomberg. According to a study published in July in the Lancet journal, the Merck vaccine is 100 percent effective after it was tested on 4,000 people in Guinea who had close contact with Ebola patients.

Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, says that Ebola-related deaths in Sierra Leone and awareness that Ebola still exists are reasons for the world to be better prepared for infectious disease outbreaks. “The world is still worryingly underprepared for potential future health threats and a change of mindset is required to ensure we invest in research and development today to protect ourselves in years to come,” Berkley explains.

On Monday, one person in Sierra Leone died from Ebola just hours after the World Health Organisation announced that the African country is Ebola-free. Sierra Leone quarantined 109 people after the death of the first victim of the virus in 2016.

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