Three vaccine developers have secured a combined $61.8m in emergency funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), as the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda continues.
The funding will support vaccine candidates from COVID-19 vaccine developers Moderna and the University of Oxford, as well as nonprofit research organisation International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
The outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain was officially declared in mid-May and has since been designated a major international public health emergency by both the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Grant beneficiaries
Moderna received the largest award, securing up to $50m to advance a candidate based on its mRNA platform. The funding will support preclinical testing, phase 1 clinical trials and manufacturing activities, enabling larger studies to begin rapidly if early data are positive.
The University of Oxford, working with the Serum Institute of India (SII), was awarded up to $8.6m to advance a vaccine based on the ChAdOx1 platform that underpinned the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, IAVI received up to $3.2m to prepare a vaccine candidate based on the rVSV platform, which has already been successfully used in an approved vaccine against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola. The organisation hopes that experience will help accelerate development against Bundibugyo virus.
The three candidates were selected following a global review of vaccines in development and consultations with WHO, Africa CDC, Gavi, ANRS-MIE and affected countries. Each programme uses a different vaccine technology, a move designed to maximise the chances of success.
Need for pace
There is currently no licensed vaccine for Bundibugyo ebolavirus, and no candidate has yet entered clinical development.
Rather than funding programmes incrementally over several years, CEPI is moving all three candidates forward simultaneously in an effort to compress timelines and generate clinical data as quickly as possible.
“With Bundibugyo virus spreading rapidly and no licensed vaccines, every day counts in the race against this deadly disease,” said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO, CEPI. “CEPI’s urgent funding and support for these three promising candidates aims to advance safe, effective vaccines to help control this epidemic.”
If phase 1 studies are successful, CEPI has indicated it could support later-stage trials aimed at generating data for emergency authorisation or full licensure.
Scale of the outbreak
The outbreak has already resulted in more than 900 suspected cases and over 220 suspected deaths, making it the third-largest filovirus outbreak on record, according to CEPI.
“CEPI’s investment in three Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine candidates is both timely and critical to Africa’s health – as well as economic security,” said Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General, Africa CDC. “We couldn’t be more proud of CEPI and the developers of these vaccines.”
Featured image: Syda Productions on Adobe Stock
