June 1 (Reuters) – Moderna said on Monday it has partnered with a global health coalition to develop a potential vaccine against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, the strain linked to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The deal comes as health authorities worldwide race to identify medical options to help contain the outbreak, which has recorded more than 900 suspected cases and over 220 suspected deaths.
Under the agreement, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has committed up to $50 million to support preclinical development and early clinical testing of Moderna’s investigational BDBV vaccine candidate.
CEPI said it would also initially invest up to $8.6 million for a shot developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and an initial $3.2 million for a vaccine developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
The World Health Organization last week recommended prioritizing several experimental drugs, including antibodies, antivirals and vaccines, for the treatment and prevention of BDBV.
CEPI is a global partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats.
Separately, global vaccine alliance Gavi on Monday committed up to $50 million, including up to $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.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Vijay Kishore and Devika Syamnath)
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