Our STN: BL 125690/0 BLA APPROVAL

December 19, 2019

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.

Attention: Jayanthi Wolf, PhD

351 N. Sumneytown Pike

P.O. Box 1000

UG2D-068

North Wales, PA 19454

Dear Dr. Wolf: 

Please refer to your Biologics License Application (BLA) submitted on July 12, 2019, 

and received on July 15, 2019, under section 351(a) of the Public Health Service Act 

(PHS Act) for Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live. 

LICENSING

We have approved your BLA for Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live effective this date. You are 

hereby authorized to introduce or deliver for introduction into interstate commerce, 

Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live under your existing Department of Health and Human 

Services U.S. License No. 0002. Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live is indicated for the 

prevention of disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus in individuals 18 years of age and 

older.

The review of this product was associated with the following National Clinical Trial 

(NCT) numbers: NCT02269423, NCT02280408, NCT02374385, NCT02314923, 

NCT02287480, NCT02283099, NCT02296983, NCT02344407, NCT02378753, 

NCT02503202. 

MANUFACTURING LOCATIONS

Under this license, you are approved to manufacture Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live at your 

facility located at . You may label your product with the proprietary 

name ERVEBO and market it in 1 mL single-dose vials. 

We did not refer your application to the Vaccines and Related Biological Products 

Advisory Committee because our review of information submitted in your BLA, including 

the clinical study design and trial results, did not raise concerns or controversial issues 

that would have benefited from an advisory committee discussion.

(b) (4)
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DATING PERIOD

The dating period for Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live shall be 36 months from the date of 

manufacture when stored at -70±10°C. The date of manufacture shall be defined as the 

date of formulation of the Final Bulk Drug Product. The dating period for your drug 

substance shall be when stored at We have approved the 

stability protocols in your license application for the purpose of extending the expiration 

dating period of your drug substance and drug product under 21 CFR 601.12.

FDA LOT RELEASE

Please submit final container samples of the product in final containers together with 

protocols showing results of all applicable tests. You may not distribute any lots of 

product until you receive a notification of release from the Director, Center for Biologics 

Evaluation and Research (CBER).

BIOLOGICAL PRODUCT DEVIATIONS

You must submit reports of biological product deviations under 21 CFR 600.14. You 

should identify and investigate all manufacturing deviations promptly, including those 

associated with processing, testing, packaging, labeling, storage, holding and 

distribution. If the deviation involves a distributed product, may affect the safety, purity, 

or potency of the product, and meets the other criteria in the regulation, you must 

submit a report on Form FDA 3486 to the Director, Office of Compliance and Biologics 

Quality, at the following address:

Food and Drug Administration

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research

Document Control Center

10903 New Hampshire Ave.

WO71-G112

Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002

MANUFACTURING CHANGES

You must submit information to your BLA for our review and written approval under 21 

CFR 601.12 for any changes in, including but not limited to, the manufacturing, testing, 

packaging or labeling of Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live, or in the manufacturing facilities.

LABELING

Under 21 CFR 201.57(c)(18), patient labeling must be referenced in section 17 

PATIENT COUNSELING INFORMATION. Patient labeling must be available and may 

either be reprinted immediately following the full prescribing information of the package 

insert or accompany the prescription product labeling.

(b) (4) (b) (4)
Page 3 – STN 125690/0 – Jayanthi Wolf, PhD

We hereby approve the draft package insert and the draft patient package insert 

labeling submitted under amendment 61, dated December 19, 2019, the draft carton

labeling submitted under amendment 54, dated December 6, 2019, and draft container 

labeling submitted under amendment 50, dated November 22, 2019. 

CONTENT OF LABELING

As soon as possible, but no later than 14 days from the date of this letter, please submit 

the final content of labeling (21 CFR 601.14) in Structured Product Labeling (SPL) 

format via the FDA automated drug registration and listing system (eLIST), as described 

at http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/DataStandards/StructuredProductLabeling/

default.htm. Information on submitting SPL files using eLIST may be found in the 

guidance for industry SPL Standard for Content of Labeling Technical Qs and As at 

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guida

nces/UCM072392.pdf. 

The SPL will be accessible via publicly available labeling repositories.

PACKAGE AND CONTAINER LABELS

Please electronically submit final printed package and container labels that are identical 

to the package and container labels submitted on December 6, 2019, and 

November 22, 2019, respectively according to the guidance for industry Providing 

Regulatory Submissions in Electronic Format — Certain Human Pharmaceutical 

Product Applications and Related Submissions Using the eCTD Specifications at 

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/drugs/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/guidan

ces/ucm333969.pdf. 

All final labeling should be submitted as Product Correspondence to this BLA 125690 at 

the time of use (prior to marketing) and include implementation information on Form 

FDA 356h.

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL LABELING

You may submit two draft copies of the proposed introductory advertising and 

promotional labeling with Form FDA 2253 to the Advertising and Promotional Labeling 

Branch at the following address:

Food and Drug Administration

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research

Document Control Center

10903 New Hampshire Ave.

WO71-G112

Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002
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You must submit copies of your final advertising and promotional labeling at the time of 

initial dissemination or publication, accompanied by Form FDA 2253 (21 CFR 

601.12(f)(4)).

All promotional claims must be consistent with and not contrary to approved labeling. 

You should not make a comparative promotional claim or claim of superiority over other 

products unless you have substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience to 

support such claims (21 CFR 202.1(e)(6)).

ADVERSE EVENT REPORTING

You must submit adverse experience reports in accordance with the adverse 

experience reporting requirements for licensed biological products (21 CFR 600.80), 

and you must submit distribution reports as described in 21 CFR 600.81. For 

information on adverse experience reporting, please refer to the guidance for industry 

Providing Submissions in Electronic Format —Postmarketing Safety Reports for 

Vaccines at 

https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/providingsubmissions-electronic-format-postmarketing-safety-reports-vaccines. For information 

on distribution reporting, please refer to the guidance for industry Electronic Submission 

of Lot Distribution Reports at 

http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation

/Post-MarketActivities/LotReleases/ucm061966.htm. 

TROPICAL DISEASE PRIORITY REVIEW VOUCHER

We also inform you that you have been granted a tropical disease priority review 

voucher (PRV), as provided under section 524 of the FDCA. This PRV has been 

assigned a tracking number, PRV BLA 125690. All correspondences related to this 

voucher should refer to this tracking number.

This voucher entitles you to designate a single human drug application submitted under 

section 505(b)(1) of the FDCA or a single biologic application submitted under section 

351 of the Public Health Service Act as qualifying for a priority review. Such an 

application would not have to meet any other requirements for a priority review. The list 

below describes the sponsor responsibilities and the parameters for using and 

transferring a tropical disease PRV.

• The sponsor who redeems the PRV must notify FDA of its intent to submit an 

application with a PRV at least 90 days before submission of the application and 

must include the date the sponsor intends to submit the application. This 

notification should be prominently marked, “Notification of Intent to Submit an 

Application with a Tropical Disease Priority Review Voucher.”

• This PRV may be transferred, including by sale, by you to another sponsor of a 

human drug or biologic application. If the PRV is transferred, the sponsor to 
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whom the PRV has been transferred should include a copy of this letter (which 

will be posted on our website as are all approval letters) and proof that the PRV 

was transferred. When redeeming this PRV, you should refer to this letter as an 

official record of the voucher.

For additional information regarding the PRV, see FDA's guidance, Tropical Disease 

Priority Review Vouchers, at 

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guida

nces/UCM080599.pdf. 

PEDIATRIC REQUIREMENTS

Under the Pediatric Research Equity Act (PREA) (21 U.S.C. 355c), all applications for 

new active ingredients, new indications, new dosage forms, new dosing regimens, or 

new routes of administration are required to contain an assessment of the safety and 

effectiveness of the product for the claimed indication in pediatric patients unless this 

requirement is waived, deferred, or inapplicable.

We are waiving the pediatric study requirement for ages 0 through 11 months because 

necessary studies are impossible or highly impracticable. 

We are deferring submission of your pediatric study for ages 12 months through 16 

years of age for this application because this product is ready for approval for use in 

adults and the pediatric study has not been completed.

Your deferred pediatric study required under section 505B(a) of the Federal Food, Drug, 

and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) is a required postmarketing study. The status of this

postmarketing study must be reported according to 21 CFR 601.28 and section 

505B(a)(4)(c) of the FDCA. In addition, section 506B of the FDCA and 21 CFR 601.70 

require you to report annually on the status of any postmarketing commitments or 

required studies or clinical trials.

Label your annual report as an “Annual Status Report of Postmarketing Study 

Requirement/Commitments” and submit it to the FDA each year within 60 calendar 

days of the anniversary date of this letter until all Requirements and Commitments 

subject to the reporting requirements under section 506B of the FDCA are released or 

fulfilled. This required study is listed below:

1. Deferred study V920-016 to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of 

ERVEBO in children 12 months through 17 years of age.

Final Protocol Submission: October 21, 2016 

Study Completion: January 31, 2020 

Final Report Submission: June 30, 2021 
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Submit final study reports to this BLA 125690. For administrative purposes, all 

submissions related to this required pediatric postmarketing study must be clearly 

designated as: “Required Pediatric Assessment.”

POSTMARKETING COMMITMENT NOT SUBJECT TO THE REPORTING 

REQUIREMENTS UNDER SECTION 506B

We acknowledge your written commitment as described in your letter of 

December 17, 2019, as outlined below:

2. To provide the Final Drug Product process performance qualification final 

validation report as a ”Postmarketing Commitment – Final Study Report.” 

Final Report Submission: May 29, 2020

We request that you submit information concerning nonclinical and chemistry, 

manufacturing, and control postmarketing commitments and final reports to your BLA 

125690. Please refer to the sequential number for each commitment.

Please use the following designators to prominently label all submissions, including 

supplements, relating to these postmarketing study commitments as appropriate:

• Postmarketing Commitment – Status Update

• Postmarketing Commitment – Final Study Report

• Supplement contains Postmarketing Commitment – Final Study Report

For each postmarketing commitment not subject to the reporting requirements of 21 

CFR 601.70, you may report the status to FDA as a Postmarketing Commitment – 

Status Update. The status report for each commitment should include:

• the sequential number for each study as shown in this letter;

• the submission number associated with this letter;

• describe what has been accomplished to fulfill the non-section 506B PMC; and,

• summarize any data collected or issues with fulfilling the non-section 506B PMC.

When you have fulfilled your commitment, submit your final report as Postmarketing 

Commitment – Final Study Report or Supplement contains Postmarketing 

Commitment – Final Study Report. 

MEDWATCH-TO-MANUFACTURER PROGRAM

The MedWatch-to-Manufacturer Program provides manufacturers with copies of serious 

adverse event reports that are received directly by the FDA. New molecular entities and 

important new biological products qualify for inclusion for three years after approval. 

Your firm is eligible to receive copies of reports for this product. To participate in the 
Page 7 – STN 125690/0 – Jayanthi Wolf, PhD

program, please see the enrollment instructions and program description details at 

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/ucm166910.htm. 

POST APPROVAL FEEDBACK MEETING

New biological products qualify for a post approval feedback meeting. Such meetings 

are used to discuss the quality of the application and to evaluate the communication 

process during drug development and marketing application review. The purpose is to 

learn from successful aspects of the review process and to identify areas that could 

benefit from improvement. If you would like to have such a meeting with us, please 

contact the Regulatory Project Manager for this application.

Sincerely, 

Marion F. Gruber, PhD 

Director

Office of Vaccines Research and Review

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research

(b) (4)