Bavarian Nordic Accelerates Ebola Vaccine Development Programmes in Collaboration with NIH

Bavarian Nordic will accelerate its collaboration with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), on the development of its Ebola vaccine programmes. Bavarian Nordic and partners are planning to initiate the first trial of a promising combination vaccine regimen in humans in 2015.

Bavarian Nordic has worked with NIAID for several years to advance its MVA-BN technology to develop a combined vaccine against Ebola and Marburg viruses, both of which are high-priority biological agents. A recent study, conducted under NIAID's vaccine preclinical services program, demonstrated proof of concept for a prime-boost regimen of two vaccines based on Bavarian Nordic's MVA-BN technology and Crucell's (part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson) AdVac technology respectively. Results from the study show complete protection against the highly virulent Ebola Zaire species, which is responsible for the current outbreak in West Africa. Planning is ongoing to accelerate the development of this combination vaccine regimen with the initiation of a trial in humans, anticipated in 2015.

Bavarian Nordic is concurrently developing additional Ebola vaccine candidates, which are in preclinical testing. Among these candidates is a multivalent vaccine that protects against the two major strains of Ebola (Zaire and Sudan) as well as Marburg. The Company is also in discussions with the NIAID to accelerate the development of this multivalent vaccine into a clinical Phase I study in the next 12 months.

Paul Chaplin, PhD, President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic stated: "Given the current global health crisis affecting West Africa and beyond, there is a clear need for efficacious protection and treatment against highly lethal infections like Ebola. The World Health Organization has warned that the outbreak now constitutes an international health risk, so this joint effort between Bavarian Nordic, Crucell and NIH is an important example of government agencies and private entities collaborating to address potential global threats. In our contribution to the development of a potential new Ebola vaccine, we leverage our expertise in the development and manufacturing of smallpox vaccines, which we have supplied to the US Government since 2010."