African biopharma Minapharm receives up to £12m-plus to advance Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine
African biopharmaceutical company Minapharm Group is to receive up to $16.5m (£12.2m) from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance development of a vaccine against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, as efforts intensify to tackle an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The funding will take the vaccine candidate through preclinical development and into a Phase 1 clinical trial assessing its safety and ability to generate an immune response. The trial is expected to take place in Africa.
Minapharm's candidate was designed by its Berlin-based subsidiary ProBioGen using the company's proprietary MVA-CR19 modified vaccinia Ankara vaccine platform. The platform is also used in a licensed vaccine against smallpox and mpox and has previously generated long-term immunity against the related Zaire ebolavirus.
The candidate is the fifth Bundibugyo-specific vaccine supported by CEPI in response to the current outbreak. Unlike the other candidates in its portfolio, Minapharm's vaccine is designed to stimulate both B- and T-cell responses, with the aim of generating comprehensive and durable immunity.
CEPI aims to advance at least two Bundibugyo vaccines towards Emergency Use Authorisation and WHO Prequalification, both to address the current outbreak and to strengthen preparedness for future epidemics.
Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said the funding would harness the growing strength of African-led innovation while advancing Minapharm's MVA platform, which could ultimately support the development and manufacture of other African-made filovirus vaccines.
The programme also has a significant manufacturing component. ProBioGen will initially produce the recombinant MVA drug substance under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions at its German facility before shipping it to Minapharm's facility in Cairo, where the finished vaccine will be produced.
In parallel, Minapharm plans to transfer drug-substance manufacturing to its biotechnology facilities in Cairo, with the longer-term aim of establishing fully local production of both the drug substance and finished vaccine.
Dr Wafik Bardissi, group chairman and CEO of Minapharm and chairman of ProBioGen, said the programme demonstrated the group's ability to operate across the biologics development and manufacturing chain, while contributing to greater health sovereignty in Africa.
Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, welcomed the involvement of an African company in developing a vaccine for the outbreak, describing the approach as important not only for the immediate crisis but for building the continent's capacity to develop and manufacture its own health technologies. Pic: MK Photoz
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