Egyptian pharmaceutical company Minapharm is developing a potential vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola amid an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The company will receive up to $16.5 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance development of the vaccine, according to a joint statement released on Thursday.
The funding will support laboratory development and a Phase 1 clinical trial, which will assess the vaccine’s safety and ability to trigger an immune response. The trial is expected to take place in Africa.
The Minapharm candidate is the fifth Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine supported by CEPI. Other candidates are being developed by Moderna, the University of Oxford and Serum Institute of India, Hilleman and Public Health Vaccines, using different vaccine technologies.
Minapharm’s vaccine uses the MVA platform and is designed to stimulate both B-cell and T-cell immune responses, which could provide longer-lasting immunity.
Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said the development of a vaccine by an African company represented an important step towards strengthening the continent’s capacity to respond to outbreaks.
“Bundibugyo virus is now driving the largest Ebola outbreak DRC has ever faced,” Kaseya said.
He added that developing and manufacturing vaccines within Africa would help the continent build greater capacity to protect its populations during health emergencies.
According to the statement, CEPI hopes that at least two of the candidate vaccines will successfully complete clinical trials and eventually receive approval from the World Health Organization for use.
Meanwhile, the WHO has recommended a large-scale clinical trial in the DRC to determine whether Ervebo, the existing approved Ebola vaccine, can provide protection against the Bundibugyo strain.
Ervebo has been shown to be safe and effective against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola. Early evidence, including findings from animal studies, suggests it could also provide some protection against Bundibugyo.
