In November 2014, Newlink exclusively licensed rights to the vaccine to Merck for US $50 million plus royalties.The Phase I study started with a high dose which caused arthritis and skin reactions in some people, and the vaccine was found replicating in the synovial fluid of the joints of the affected people; the clinical trial was halted because of that, then recommenced with a lower dose.In March 2015, a Phase II clinical trial and a Phase III started in Guinea at the same time; the Phase II trial focused on frontline health workers, while the Phase III trial was a ring vaccination in which close contacts of people who had contracted Ebola virus were vaccinated with VSV-EBOV.In January 2016, the GAVI Alliance signed an agreement with Merck under which Merck agreed to provide VSV-EBOV vaccine for future outbreaks of Ebola and GAVI paid Merck US$5 million; Merck will use the funds to complete clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval. As of that date, Merck had submitted an application to the World Health Organization (WHO) through their Emergency Use Assessment and Listing (EUAL) program to allow for use of the vaccine in the case of another epidemic. It was used on an emergency basis in Guinea in March 2016.Results of the Phase III Guinea trial were published in December 2016.
Zinc replaced by cadmium in DNA polymerase can be particularly damaging to the testes. DNA damage
Common inherited variants in genes that encode enzymes employed in DNA mismatch repair are associated with increased risk of sperm DNA damage and male infertility. As men age there is a consistent decline in semen quality, and this decline appears to be due to DNA damage. The damage manifests by DNA fragmentation and by the increased susceptibility to denaturation upon exposure to heat or acid, the features characteristic of apoptosis of somatic cells. These findings suggest that DNA damage is an important factor in male infertility. Epigenetic
An increasing amount of recent evidence has been recorded documenting abnormal sperm DNA methylation in association with abnormal semen parameters and male infertility. Until recently, scientists have thought that epigenetic markers only affect the individual and are not passed down due to not changing the DNA. New studies suggest that environmental factors that changed an individuals epigenetic markers can be seen in their grandchildren, one such study demonstrating this through rats and fertility disruptors. Another study bred rats exposed to an endocrine disruptor, observing effects up to generation F5 including decreased sperm motility and decreased sperm count. These studies suggest that environmental factors that influence fertility can be felt for generations even without changing the DNA.