An Egyptian pharmaceutical company is working on developing a potential vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, at a time when the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a widespread outbreak of the disease.
Minapharm announced on Thursday that it has received $16.5 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance the development of its candidate vaccine against the Bundipojeo strain through laboratory stages to the first phase of clinical trials.
The candidate vaccine, designed by Berlin-based MenaPharm subsidiary ProBioGen, uses the MVA platform and aims to stimulate an immune response involving both B and T cells, potentially providing long-term immunity.
The first phase of clinical trials is expected to take place in Africa, and aims to assess the safety of the vaccine and its ability to stimulate an immune response in humans.
The development of this vaccine comes in light of the absence of a specific approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, which is experiencing a widespread outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the joint statement, more than 5,600 confirmed cases, including more than 2,700 deaths, have been recorded since the outbreak was declared on May 15.
The World Health Organization is sending 70,000 doses of Ebola vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is funding four other candidate vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain, in addition to the MenaPharm vaccine. These vaccines use different platforms and technologies and are at different stages of development.
Moderna is developing one of these vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, while Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India are developing another vaccine using the ChAdOx platform.
Hilleman and Public Health Vaccines are also working on developing two vaccines using rVSV technology.
The alliance believes that the diversity of vaccine candidate technologies increases the chances of accessing a safe and effective vaccine that can help control the outbreak.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) aims to have at least two vaccines against the Bundybugyo virus successfully reach the end of clinical trials, at a level that allows them to be approved by the World Health Organization.
In parallel with the development of new vaccines, the World Health Organization recommended a large-scale clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo of the only currently approved Ebola vaccine, with the aim of determining whether it provides cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain.
The Ervebo vaccine has proven effective and safe against the Zaire strain, the most common strain of the Ebola virus. Preliminary data, particularly animal trial results, suggest the vaccine may also offer some protection against the Bundibugyo strain.
