The Sabin Vaccine Institute announced yesterday that it has been awarded a multiyear contract from the US government to advance the development and production of vaccine candidates for the Ebola Sudan and Marburg viruses.
Under the agreement, the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will initially invest approximately $35 million to produce up to 100,000 doses of Sabin's Ebola Sudan virus vaccine (ChAd3-SUDV).
ChAd3-SUDV is one of three vaccine candidates being evaluated in a World Health Organization trial launched in Uganda in December 2022 amid the recent Ebola Sudan outbreak, which caused 55 deaths before the Ugandan government declared the outbreak over on Jan 11.
The Ebola Sudan outbreak in Uganda underscored the critical need for readily available solutions.
Sabin has also initiated planning for a phase 2 clinical trial to be conducted in Uganda and Kenya. Previous clinical trials and nonhuman primate studies indicate the vaccine is safe, immunogenic, provides rapid protection, and is durable for up to 12 months.
"The Ebola Sudan outbreak in Uganda underscored the critical need for readily available solutions," Sabin CEO Amy Finan said in a press release. "We'll now have ample material to respond quickly to such an outbreak in the future."
The contract, which has a funding potential of up to $214 million, will also support the manufacture of doses of Sabin's Marburg virus vaccine (ChAd3-MARV) for future trials and outbreak response. There are currently no licensed vaccines for Ebola Sudan or Marburg viruses, both of which cause hemorrhagic fever and kill roughly half the people infected.