Aug 27 (Reuters) – The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations will provide up to $16.5 million to Egypt-based pharmaceutical company Minapharm Group to advance an experimental Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine into human trials in Africa, the organizations said on Thursday.
This is the fifth Bundibugyo vaccine candidate backed by CEPI in response to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which the group described as the country’s largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak.
• The funding will support laboratory work and an early-stage clinical trial to assess the vaccine’s safety and ability to trigger an immune response, the organizations said.
• The candidate was designed by Minapharm’s Berlin-based unit ProBioGen using its MVA-CR19 platform, which relies on a weakened virus that cannot multiply in human cells. It aims to produce antibodies and activate immune cells that destroy infected cells.
• CEPI aims to advance at least two Bundibugyo vaccines toward emergency authorization and World Health Organization approval.
• ProBioGen will initially make the vaccine’s active ingredient in Germany, while Minapharm will complete and package it in Cairo. The companies plan to eventually move the entire manufacturing process to Egypt.
• If the initial trial succeeds, CEPI expects to support larger studies to determine whether the vaccine works and seek emergency authorization. The partners aim to provide it quickly and affordably to affected countries.
(Reporting by Kunal Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
