Lead researcher Frederik Schaltz-Buchholzer said today the study “will not move forward in Guinea-Bissau” because government approval was never given. Judicial police searched the Bandim Health Project offices in Bissau earlier this week and seized a batch of hepatitis B vaccines intended for children. The CDC had awarded the University of Southern Denmark an unsolicited $1.6 million grant in December 2025 for a trial of roughly 14,500 newborns in which only half would receive a birth dose. Guinea-Bissau has adult hepatitis B rates near 18–20 percent. Authorities halted the plans in January 2026 after WHO and other experts called the design unethical. Health Minister Quinhin Nantote has repeatedly stated the government never authorized the study.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/21/us-vaccine-trial-african-newborns-hepatitis-b
https://ua.news/en/health/politsiia-gvineyi-bisau-viluchila-vaktsini-proti-gepatitu-v-ars-technica
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