Three Ebola vaccines under development to target central African outbreak

Funding of more than $61m (£46m) has been allocated for the development of three vaccines in response to an Ebola epidemic in central Africa.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has committed the funds for vaccine candidates put forward by the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Moderna, and the University of Oxford following the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

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The Bundibugyo virus currently has no approved vaccine, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern.

Ebola belongs to the filovirus family and the only existing vaccine for the disease targets the Zaire strain, with WHO advising against its use to tackle the Bundibugyo outbreak.

According to CEPI, the epidemic has already resulted in more than 900 suspected cases and over 220 suspected deaths, making it the third-largest filovirus outbreak on record.

Other estimates suggest the toll could be higher, with more than 1,000 suspected cases and around 250 deaths.

Dr Richard Hatchett, chief executive of CEPI, said: ‘With Bundibugyo virus spreading rapidly and no licensed vaccines, every day counts in the race against this deadly disease.’

IAVI is developing its vaccine using the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) platform, which also forms the basis of the only Ebola vaccine currently approved.

Moderna's vaccine is based on mRNA technology also used for its Covid-19 vaccine, while the University of Oxford's candidate is based on its ChAdOx1 platform, which was used for the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

CEPI has committed up to $3.2m (£2.4m) to IAVI, up to $50m (£37.1m) to Moderna and up to $8.6m (£6.4m) to the University of Oxford and its manufacturing partner, the Serum Institute of India – a total commitment of up to $61.8m (£46m) across the three programmes.

'CEPI's urgent funding and support for these three promising candidates aims to advance safe, effective vaccines to help control this epidemic,' said Dr Hatchett.

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Professor Teresa Lambe, head of vaccine immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: 'We are hopeful that through a coordinated global effort, we will be able to curb this outbreak and stop this virus in its tracks.'

WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the initiative, saying: 'A Bundibugyo vaccine could help to control this epidemic and strengthen preparedness for future outbreaks.'

Ebola is a severe viral haemorrhagic fever caused by Orthoebolavirus species, spread by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person. Three different viruses are known to cause large Ebola disease outbreaks: Ebola virus, Sudan virus and Bundibugyo virus.

Bundibugyo virus carries an estimated case fatality rate of 25-50%. Symptoms include sudden fever, severe headache, muscle pain, and sore throat, progressing to vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, and in severe cases internal and external bleeding.

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