A laboratory technican of the company Icon Genetics prepares proteines from Tobacco plants (Nicotiana benthamiana) for weighing in a laboratory in Halle, August 14, 2014. Icon Genetics develop a technology to mass produce Ebola vaccine with the help of to
In Photo: A laboratory technican of the company Icon Genetics prepares proteines from Tobacco plants (Nicotiana benthamiana) for weighing in a laboratory in Halle, August 14, 2014. Icon Genetics develop a technology to mass produce Ebola vaccine with the help of tobacco plants. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

The Ebola vaccine that Canada has developed has started its human clinical trials, Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced.

Authorities will test the VSV-EBOV vaccine on a small group of people to assess its safety, determine the appropriate dosage and identify any side effects. So far, the vaccine has shown a 100 per cent success rate in animals, Ambrose said.

A total of 20 vials of the experimental vaccine have been supplied for use in the trial. It was developed by scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML).

The 20 healthy volunteers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Springs, Maryland are the ones to be used during the testing. If successful, it would be then tested in a larger human sample, which could potentially include health care workers stationed in West Africa. "The health-care workers on the ground are the most likely target to do the next step," Dr Gregory Taylor, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, said in a news conference in Toronto. The target timeline for this could begin by end 2014 or early 2015. Results of the Phase 1 trial are expected in December 2014.

Canada likewise committed to immediately deliver 1,000 doses of the Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization once the required clinical trials processes are completed. Apart from Canada, clinical trials for an Ebola vaccine are also being done in Europe and Africa.

Dr. Gregory Taylor, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, said he hoped that the vaccine can be used to help save lives and put an end to the devastating outbreak, which had already claimed more than 4,000 lives, most of which were in west Africa.

Steven Guercio, Acting Director General of the National Microbiology Laboratory, said the scientists working on the Ebola vaccine have seen positive results in the development of the Ebola vaccine. "We hope that this testing proves successful and that the vaccine will be approved for use to help control the ongoing outbreak in West Africa."

The Canadian government owns the intellectual property associated with the vaccine, but it has licensed the rights to NewLink Genetics through its wholly owned subsidiary BioProtection Systems. The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency is working with BioProtection Systems to further develop the product for use in humans.

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