Novavax Starts Ebola Vaccine Trials On Humans

Novavax Inc. shares were up marginally Thursday after the company said it has started enrolling patients in Phase 1 trials for its Ebola vaccine after an expedited test program involving monkeys. Novavax injected monkeys with lethal doses of the Ebola virus and treated some with its vaccine. All the monkeys that received the vaccine survived while those who did not died. Novavax faces an uphill climb, however, as drug-making giants GlaxoSmithKline and Merck are ahead of it in the race to develop a vaccine to combat the deadly disease. Shares of Novavax were up 7 cents to $8.32 in recent action.