GSK Ebola vaccine “too late” for current Ebola outbreak; more on Ebola

UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) says any Ebola vaccine it produces will come too late for the current epidemic. GSK is one of several companies trying to fast-track a vaccine to prevent the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

Ripley Ballou, head of GSK's Ebola vaccine research, said full data on its safety and efficacy would not be ready until late 2015 and any mass production would not start until 2016. He told Simon Cox from the Britain’s public broadcaster BBC's File on Four, his fear is that without effective controls the epidemic had real potential to "spread to surrounding countries."

The World Health Organization says more than 9,000 people have been infected and more than 4,500 have died. Health workers are struggling to contain the spread of the virus, which is mostly affecting people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.