CEPI backs African-led Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine development
pharmafile | September 3, 2026 | News story | |Â Â Africa, CEPI, Ebola vaccineÂ
Minapharm Group is to receive up to US$16.5m from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance development of a vaccine against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, as efforts intensify to respond to the largest outbreak of the virus recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Egyptian biopharmaceutical company, which has subsidiaries in Germany, will take the vaccine through preclinical development and into a phase 1 clinical trial assessing its safety and immunogenicity. The trial is expected to take place in Africa.
The candidate was designed by Berlin-based ProBioGen, a Minapharm subsidiary, using its proprietary MVA-CR19 modified vaccinia Ankara platform. The platform is designed to generate both B- and T-cell immune responses and has also been used in development of a vaccine targeting the related Zaire ebolavirus.
The programme is the fifth Bundibugyo-specific vaccine candidate supported by CEPI as it seeks to accelerate development of vaccines against the current outbreak and prepare for future epidemics.
Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said the funding would harness African-led innovation while advancing Minapharm’s MVA platform as a potential basis for future African-manufactured filovirus vaccines.
The partnership also has a longer-term manufacturing objective. ProBioGen will initially manufacture the recombinant MVA drug substance under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions at its German facility, before the material is transferred to Minapharm’s facility in Cairo for production of the finished vaccine.
In parallel, Minapharm plans to transfer drug-substance manufacturing to its biotechnology facilities in Cairo, potentially enabling both drug substance and finished vaccine production to take place locally.
The approach reflects a wider effort to strengthen African capacity to develop and manufacture vaccines rather than relying solely on imported products during outbreaks.
Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, said an African-developed vaccine candidate represented the kind of capability needed both to respond to the current outbreak and to enable the continent to develop and manufacture its own health technologies.
If the phase 1 trial is successful, CEPI expects to work with Minapharm and ProBioGen on later-stage trials to generate the efficacy data required for emergency-use authorisation and licensure.
The organisations have also committed to working towards rapid and affordable supply to affected countries if the vaccine proves safe and effective.
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