BARDA gives $20M to Sabin Vaccine Institute for vaccines

By The Science Advisory Board staff writers

May 13, 2020 -- The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded the Sabin Vaccine Institute $20 million to manufacture and release clinical Ebola and Marburg vaccine materials developed by its partner, ReiThera. The funding will also support nonclinical studies to evaluate their efficacy and immune response.

The award follows the execution of a 2019 contract, valued at $20 million, to advance the development of vaccines against Ebola, Sudan, and Marburg viruses through phase II trials. Also in 2019, Sabin exclusively licensed technology for the vaccine candidate from GlaxoSmithKline, based on the ChAd3 adenoviral vector vaccine platform.

The new funding will enable Sabin and ReiThera to advance the investigational Ebola and Marburg vaccines through good manufacturing practice (GMP) manufacturing and release of ChAd3-MARV and ChAd3-SUDV phase II clinical materials and conduct pilot efficacy and immunogenicity studies. Under terms of the agreement, nonclinical and phase II clinical trials in the U.S. and Africa may be supported by an additional $87.5 million in funding from the BARDA contract.

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