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A new Ebola vaccine gets a major funding boost. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is providing up to $16.5 million to Egypt's Minapharm Group to push an experimental Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine into human trials in Africa. The move is part of a broader push to fast-track at least two Bundibugyo vaccines toward emergency authorization amid the DRC's largest-ever Ebola outbreak.
A new Ebola vaccine gets a major funding boost
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is committing up to $16.5 million to Egypt-based Minapharm Group to advance an experimental Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine into early-stage human trials in Africa. The funding will support lab work and a Phase I trial to evaluate the vaccine's safety and its ability to trigger an immune response.
The vaccine was developed by Minapharm's Berlin-based subsidiary ProBioGen using its MVA-CR19 platform — a modified weakened virus that can't replicate in human cells but is designed to stimulate both antibody production and cell-mediated immunity. This is the fifth Bundibugyo vaccine candidate CEPI has backed in response to what it calls the DRC's largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak to date.
By the Numbers
Why it matters: With the DRC facing its worst-ever Ebola outbreak, accelerating vaccine development is critical. CEPI's multi-candidate strategy and focus on African manufacturing capacity signal a push for faster, more equitable access to life-saving vaccines in outbreak zones.