Hilleman Laboratories, a Singapore-based joint venture of biopharmaceutical company MSD and charitable foundation Wellcome, will receive up to $8.5 million in funding to advance the development and manufacturing of an investigational vaccine targeting one of largest Ebola outbreaks affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Bundibugyo Ebolavirus.

The funding, provided by The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), will support Hilleman Laboratories vaccine production facility as it ramps up efforts to advance development of Bundibugyo Ebolavirus vaccine candidate doses for clinical trials using the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) platform, according the announcement.

Hilleman Laboratories will initially take forward development of the rVSV Bundibugyo vaccine candidate starting material generated by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative with CEPI funding, and potentially other CEPI funded rVSV vaccine candidates in the future. Meanwhile, MSD will serve as a technical adviser to Hilleman Laboratories by contributing proprietary scientific and manufacturing expertise on the rVSV platform.

The partners are prepared to transfer the vaccine technology to a large-scale vaccine manufacturer to produce additional doses, as needed, for later-stage trials. 

Hilleman Laboratories will adapt the updated manufacturing process currently in development for MSD’s WHO pre-qualified Zaire Ebolavirus vaccine to accelerate the path to clinical trials for the Bundibugyo candidate.

In January, CEPI announced up to $30 million in funding for the updated manufacturing process in development for MSD’s Zaire Ebolavirus vaccine, which aims to increase yields and improve thermostability. If successful, it could potentially reduce the cost of the vaccine and enable refrigerated storage for several months, making it easier to deploy in outbreak settings, subject to regulatory review and public health requirements, according to CEPI.