Sanofi has appointed its chief scientific officer Gary Nabel as its Ebola response coordinator.
In the role Nabel will aim to identify how Sanofi can help advance countermeasures to contain the current outbreak and prioritise opportunities to develop novel treatments for the future.
Concerning the role, Nabel said: “Working with out colleagues across the industry, Sanofi is helping to find ways to advance medicines to prevent or treat Ebola virus infection.
“We are also sharing our scientific, medical, regulatory and manufacturing expertise with the World Health Organisation, government and non-governmental organisation – public and private – in an effort to contain this epidemic.”
Over 13,000 cases of Ebola have been confirmed, probable or suspected worldwide and more than 5,000 deaths have been reported.
To date, no licensed treatment has been found but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are currently under development, including vaccines from GSK, Merck & Co and Johnson & Johnson.
Elias Zerhouni, president of Sanofi global research and development, said: “Given his past experience in public health epidemics as director of the NIH vaccine research centre and his leadership in developing an Ebola vaccine at NIH, Dr Nabel is uniquely qualified for this position.
“He is working with other organisations, including providing guidance to researchers based on the company’s extensive experience in vaccine and drug development, to determine how Sanofi can assist in making progress with this global challenge.”