Ebola vaccine moves closer to market licence: European regulator

A vaccine against Ebola, not yet licensed but used to stem an outbreak in DR Congo, moved a step closer to the market Friday after obtaining a green light from Europe's medicines watchdog.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement its human medicines committee "has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation in the European Union for Ervebo", the only Ebola vaccine in circulation.

"This is an important step towards relieving the burden of this deadly disease," said EMA executive director Guido Rasi.

The EMA's recommendation will be forwarded to the European Commission for a decision on EU-wide marketing authorisation.

The UN's World Health Organisation welcomed the news as a "major milestone".

"The conditional authorisation of the world's first Ebola vaccine is a triumph for public health, and a testimony to the unprecedented collaboration between scores of experts worldwide," the WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

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