CEPI pledges US$60M to fast-track Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines from Moderna, Oxford, and IAVI

NORWAY—The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has pledged US$60 million to fast-track vaccine development against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola amid an expanding outbreak in eastern DRC and Uganda.

The funding will support three promising vaccine candidates being developed by Moderna, the University of Oxford in partnership with the Serum Institute of India, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).

The move comes as the outbreak continues to spread across the region, prompting global health agencies to intensify efforts to develop effective countermeasures against a virus for which no licensed vaccine or treatment currently exists.

CEPI, which played a pivotal role in supporting vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the investment is intended to rapidly advance the candidates toward clinical testing and potential deployment.

“Every day counts in the race against this deadly disease,” said CEPI Chief Executive Officer Richard Hatchett.

Moderna receives largest share of funding

Under the initiative, CEPI has committed up to US$50 million to support the preclinical development and Phase 1 clinical evaluation of Moderna’s investigational Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine candidate.

The funding will also support manufacturing activities that would allow vaccine doses to be produced while clinical trials are underway, enabling a faster transition into larger Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies if early results prove successful.

Moderna said its vaccine candidate is based on the company’s mRNA platform, the same technology that enabled the rapid development of its COVID-19 vaccine.

The company noted that the program builds on its existing research into filoviruses, the family of viruses that includes Ebola.

Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel said the company believes its mRNA technology can help respond quickly to emerging infectious disease threats and pledged to advance the vaccine candidate with urgency.

Oxford and IAVI advance alternative vaccine approaches

In addition to Moderna’s programme, CEPI will invest up to US$8.6 million in the ChAdOx1 Bundibugyo vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

The candidate uses the same adenovirus-based platform that underpinned the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

According to Hatchett, Oxford and the Serum Institute demonstrated the speed of their technology during last year’s Rift Valley Fever outbreak in Mauritania and Senegal, when they prepared trial-ready vaccine doses in approximately six weeks.

Meanwhile, CEPI has allocated an initial US$3.2 million to support IAVI’s single-dose Bundibugyo vaccine candidate.

The vaccine uses the same viral vector technology employed in Merck’s approved Ebola vaccine, Ervebo, which targets the Ebola Zaire strain.

Preclinical studies have shown encouraging survival benefits in animal models.

Outbreak continues to expand

The Bundibugyo outbreak has become a major public health concern across Central and East Africa.

According to the Africa CDC and the World Health Organisation (WHO), the outbreak has led to hundreds of confirmed infections and dozens of deaths in the DRC, and Uganda has also reported confirmed cases, including fatalities.

Global health authorities have classified the situation as a public health emergency.

Unlike the more common Ebola Zaire strain, Bundibugyo Ebola currently has no approved vaccine or treatment, making the development of effective medical countermeasures particularly urgent.

Health experts warn that conducting clinical trials could prove challenging because many affected areas face ongoing insecurity and humanitarian pressures.

Additional global funding mobilized

Alongside CEPI’s investment, global vaccine alliance Gavi recently committed up to US$50 million to support vaccine development, access, and outbreak response efforts.

Of this amount, up to US$40 million will be used to accelerate access to investigational and future-approved vaccines, while an additional US$10 million will support emergency response activities and help protect routine immunisation programmes in affected countries.

The World Bank’s Pandemic Fund has also announced grants worth up to US$220.6 million to address critical gaps in the Ebola response.

As vaccine developers move their candidates toward human testing, CEPI has emphasized that ensuring equitable access will be a critical next step.

During the 2018–2020 Ebola Zaire outbreak in the DRC, approximately 300,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine were required to help bring the epidemic under control.

Hatchett noted that similar planning for procurement, manufacturing, and distribution must begin now to ensure that any successful Bundibugyo vaccine reaches affected communities promptly.