Biotech giant Moderna announced on Monday it has partnered with a global health coalition to develop a potential vaccine against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, the strain linked to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
This initiative is crucial as health authorities worldwide race to identify medical options and contain the outbreak, which has seen over 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths.
Earlier this month, Moderna’s shares jumped when the company revealed it was researching a vaccine for hantavirus following the infamous cruise ship outbreak.
Under the agreement, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) committed up to $50 million for preclinical development and early clinical testing of Moderna’s investigational BDBV vaccine candidate.
CEPI also initially committed up to $8.6 million for a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, alongside an initial $3.2 million for a candidate from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
This global push follows a World Health Organization recommendation last week to prioritize several experimental drugs, including antibodies, antivirals, and vaccines, for the treatment and prevention of BDBV.
CEPI, a global partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats, is central to these efforts.
Separately, the global vaccine alliance Gavi on Monday pledged up to $50 million, including 40 million to accelerate vaccine access and $10 million to support outbreak response.
The Pandemic Fund last week announced up to $220.6 million in grants to address critical response gaps in the Ebola outbreak.
