The University of Oxford has launched a Phase 1 trial of a multivalent Ebola vaccine candidate targeting both the Zaire and Sudan strains of the filovirus, the university announced last week.
The ChAdOx1 biEBOV vaccine uses the same adenovirus vector platform as the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 shot, whose storage conditions are “amenable to use in the developing world,” the trial’s chief investigator noted. By contrast, Merck’s Ebola vaccine, Ervebo, requires ultracold storage.
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The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has entered another agreement to use Batavia Biosciences’ novel HIP-Vax platform to manufacture doses for clinical trials, the Dutch CDMO announced last week. This time around, the vaccine candidate is IAVI’s Sudan ebolavirus shot.
Batavia is already using the high-volume, low-cost, small-footprint technology to produce doses for Phase 1 trials of IAVI’s Lassa fever vaccine candidate. Both candidates use a recombinant vesicular…
The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has made two recent Sudan ebolavirus and Marburg virus vaccine awards.
Firstly, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) said Wednesday that BARDA has given it up to $126 million to help develop its two recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-vectored candidates.
Meanwhile, Sabin Vaccine Institute announced last week that BARDA has released a third tranche of $34.5 million in funding to allow…
J&J touted positive Phase 3 data Monday showing that its Janssen subsidiary’s Zabdeno (Ad26.ZEBOV) and Mvabea (MVA-BN-Filo) Ebola vaccine regimen—co-developed with Bavarian Nordic—induced antibody responses against the Ebola Zaire virus in 98% of children and adults 21 days after the second dose.
In the adult cohort, immune responses persisted for at least two years, while a booster dose with Zabdeno after two years induced a strong immune response within seven days, per the…
Soligenix announced Wednesday positive preclinical data for its thermostable recombinant subunit vaccine candidates against Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire and Marburg viruses.
The shots—which use the novel CoVaccine HT adjuvant from BTG Specialty Pharmaceuticals—elicited “potent immune responses” that “suggest the feasibility” of formulating a multivalent filovirus vaccine to protect against all three pathogens, according to data published in collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi at…
Johnson & Johnson published on Wednesday its annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance report. The 2020 Health for Humanity Report highlighted the company’s Covid-19 response, global health strategy, responsible business practices, and reporting frameworks and standards.
On global health, J&J touted approvals of its Ebola vaccine and long-acting rilpivirine-containing injectable HIV treatment regimen and the company’s commitment of $50 million to support…
WHO released detailed notes last week from the March 22-24 virtual meeting of its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization.
As in the last SAGE meeting in October 2020, the impact of the pandemic on immunization as well as guidance on Covid-19 vaccines dominated the discussion. WHO’s Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals (IVB) department director compared the scope of Covid-19 to that of the 1918 influenza pandemic. IVB noted, however, “promising signs” of response…
J&J announced last week that it will donate up to 200,000 doses of its Ebola vaccine regimen (developed with Bavarian Nordic) to Sierra Leone as part of a WHO early access clinical program to prevent disease spread in the region. Neighboring Guinea declared a new Ebola outbreak in February.
WHO awarded prequalification status last month to the dual-shot regimen, comprised of Zabdeno (Ad26.ZEBOV) and Mvabea (MVA-BN-Filo).
WHO added São Paulo-based Butantan Institute’s trivalent inactivated seasonal flu vaccine and two Ebola shots from J&J’s Janssen subsidiary—Ad26.ZEBOV-GP and MVA-BN-Filo, used in combination—to its list of prequalified products last week.
WHO announced Tuesday that it has sent Guinea 11,000 doses of Merck’s Ebola vaccine to help combat the West African country’s new outbreak.
Earlier this year, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF and WHO launched a global stockpile of the shot. Managed by UNICEF and allocated by WHO’s International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, the Switzerland-based reserve will, however, take “2 to 3 years” to reach the 500…