Global health organisation CEPI will provide roughly $60 million to Moderna and two other research groups to fast-track the development of vaccines targeting Ebola Bundibugyo, the virus driving a deadly outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where no approved vaccines or treatments currently exist. CEPI was a key backer of several COVID-19 vaccines and is now deploying similar rapid-response funding to contain the growing Central African Ebola emergency.
Under the initiative, CEPI has committed up to $50 million to support preclinical work and early-stage clinical trials of Moderna’s investigational Ebola Bundibugyo vaccine, which uses the same mRNA platform as the company’s COVID-19 shots and can be rapidly adapted to new threats. If early data are positive, the funding could also support manufacturing scale-up and progression to larger, later-stage trials, positioning the candidate for faster deployment in affected regions.
Alongside Moderna, CEPI will invest up to $8.6 million in a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, as well as an initial $3.2 million for a candidate from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), creating a diversified pipeline of shots that all target the Bundibugyo glycoprotein on the virus surface. Global health officials say advancing multiple technologies in parallel is critical to securing at least one safe and effective vaccine that can move quickly into outbreak settings and protect high-risk populations.
CEPI’s chief executive Richard Hatchett has said it may be possible to have Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines ready to enter clinical trials within a couple of months if the programmes progress as planned. Health agencies hope that an effective vaccine, combined with case finding, contact tracing and community engagement, will help bring the current outbreak under control and strengthen preparedness for future Ebola Bundibugyo events.
