Singapore Firm To Develop Promising Ebola Vaccine For Clinical Trials

Singapore Firm to Develop Promising Ebola Vaccine for Clinical Trials

Hilleman Laboratories, a Singapore-based vaccine research organization, has been selected to develop and manufacture doses of one of the world’s most promising experimental vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus for use in early-stage clinical trials. The initiative is being supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations CEPI, which is providing funding to accelerate the vaccine’s development as health authorities respond to an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. The vaccine candidate is based on the same technology used in the licensed Ervebo vaccine, which protects against the Zaire strain of Ebola, but is designed specifically to target the Bundibugyo variant, for which no approved vaccine currently exists. Under the agreement, Hilleman Laboratories will manufacture vaccine doses for initial human clinical trials expected to begin after regulatory approvals. If the early trials demonstrate the vaccine is safe and effective and it subsequently receives authorization, CEPI and Hilleman said they aim to ensure the rapid, affordable supply of vaccine doses to countries affected by outbreaks, particularly low- and middle-income nations where access to lifesaving vaccines is often limited. The World Health Organization has identified the vaccine as one of the leading candidates for tackling the current Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, which has resulted in thousands of infections and significant loss of life. Alongside this project, CEPI is also supporting other vaccine candidates being developed by organizations including Moderna and the University of Oxford as part of a broader international effort to combat the disease. Hilleman Laboratories, a joint venture between Merck and the Wellcome Trust, said it has the capacity to produce tens of thousands of vaccine doses for clinical evaluation and could scale up manufacturing if the vaccine proves successful. The partnership is expected to strengthen global preparedness against future Ebola outbreaks while improving equitable access to vaccines for vulnerable populations.