The funding will advance each vaccine candidate, so they are ready to begin clinical trials as quickly as possible. The University of Oxford vaccine will be manufactured at the Serum Institute of India.
With no licensed vaccines available for Bundibugyo virus and none in clinical development, CEPI's action reflects the critical need to produce tools to help curtail the outbreak, complementing ongoing public health interventions by affected countries.
‘With Bundibugyo virus spreading rapidly and no licensed vaccines, every day counts in the race against this deadly disease,’ said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI. ‘CEPI’s urgent funding and support for these three promising candidates aims to advance safe, effective vaccines to help control this epidemic.’
The current outbreak - declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) by the World Health Organisation and Africa CDC, respectively - has already caused more than 900 suspected cases and more than 220 suspected deaths, making it the third largest Filovirus outbreak in history.
Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group and Pandemic Sciences Institute, said: ‘We are grateful to work with CEPI and our global partners, including SII, to advance our candidate vaccine against BDBV. We are hopeful that through a coordinated global effort, we will be able to curb this outbreak and stop this virus in its tracks.’
Read the full story on the Department of Paediatrics website.