A medicines research laboratory is looking for people to be injected with an Ebola vaccine to help find a cure for the disease.
Hammersmith Medical Research is holding the clinical trials to develop an immunisation that scientists hope will prevent people becoming infected with the deadly disease.
There is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa since the world’s biggest outbreak began in the forest region of Guinea in December 2013.
The advertisement in the Evening Standard is looking for volunteers to start a new Ebola vaccine trial
Oxford University held similar trials in September where healthy people were injected with a single protein from the Ebola virus to trigger an immune response.
The organisers of the London trial are looking for volunteers between the ages of 18 and 65 to take part, which will begin in November.
The advert, placed in Monday’s Evening Standard, asks: ‘Interested in helping medical research into a vaccine for Ebola virus and being paid for your help?
‘Are you 18-65 years old and in good health? If the answer is YES, then you might be suitable for a study of an Ebola vaccine.’
It goes on to explain that there is still no specific cure or vaccine for Ebola.
Participants are typically given blood tests and a full medical to ensure they are fit enough for the trial before being given the experimental vaccine.
The study will involve up to 12 short outpatient appointments with participants paid up to £750 for their time
An experimental Ebola vaccine proved ‘highly effective’ in human trials in Guinea earlier this year. A London research laboratory is now asking for volunteers for a new trial starting in November
The study involves up to 12 short outpatient visits and could last up to a year, it explains.
‘You won’t catch Ebola if you take part in this study,’ the advert stresses.
The vicious disease has infected an estimated 28,000 people, killing more than 11,000 in the last 18 months, in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the US and Mali.
The World Health Organisation says the actual figures could be far higher, given the difficulty collecting the data.
While new cases have fallen sharply this year, experts have warned there is a chance it could reignite.
As a result scientists across the world have focused their efforts on examining the disease, to try and develop the world’s first effective vaccine.
