Pharmaceutical giant Merck announced it will buy the global commercial rights to NewLink Genetics Corp.'s experimental Ebola vaccine for $50 million, according to a CBC report.
NewLink will also receive royalties from Merck, according to the report.
The experimental vaccine rVSV-EBOV was originally developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, which will retain non-commercial rights to it.
Merck will take over vaccine development and any additional related products. The pharmaceutical company has said large-scale trials of the vaccine could begin early next year, according to the report.
The vaccine is currently undergoing early-stage trials, which test the vaccine on healthy volunteers to determine if it is safe and initiate a protective immune response, according to the report. If the results of this trial are positive, then larger late-stage trials can begin.
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