Vaccine Alliance to Spend $300M on First Approved Ebola Medication

A medical alliance is reportedly set to buy millions of doses of an ebola vaccine once one is approved by the World Health Organization as safe and effective.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization announced Thursday that it is set to purchase up to $300 million in Ebola vaccines once one of the several experimental doses proves safe and effective. Currently, there are several experimental trials taking place throughout the world in a race to find the first Ebola vaccine to be approved by the World Health Organization.

As Reuters reports, the alliance's announcement comes as one promising clinical trial in Switzerland for the vaccine NewLink was suspended after several participants complained of joint pain while taking the medication.

The University of Geneva Hospital played down the suspension of its clinical trial, saying in a statement that "[the patients] are all fine and being monitored regularly by the medical team leading the study."

"The Geneva team has decided to allow time to understand what is happening," the medical team's statement continued. "This precaution of momentarily suspending the trial is usual and classic in all clinical trials."

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization is funded by several governments, as well as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the alliance is to distribute vaccines into developing countries, and West Africa has been a primary goal of the alliance since the Ebola virus has killed over 6,000 people.