Filoviruses are responsible for frequent and unpredictable outbreaks of haemorrhagic disease in parts of Africa, causing significant health crises and high fatality rates.
Backed by up to $26.7 million in funding from CEPI and the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, researchers at the Oxford Vaccine Group and the Pandemic Sciences Institute, at the University of Oxford, with partners at the Institute for Drug Discovery at Leipzig University and Moderna will design and test multivalent vaccine candidates that aim to protect individuals from a wide range of filoviruses, including as-yet-unknown pathogens from the filovirus family that could emerge in the future.
Currently, there are two licensed vaccines which provide protection only for Ebola virus, but no vaccines are licensed for Sudan virus or Marburg virus – the causes of multiple and recent outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa. This new programme will focus specifically on creating multivalent vaccines that protect against many of these viral hemorrhagic fevers, offering a way to proactively immunise those at risk.
Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, commented: “The first-ever outbreak of Marburg in Ethiopia is a stark reminder that filoviruses are among the world’s most menacing pathogens, capable of triggering devastating outbreaks and epidemics. A broadly protective filovirus vaccine could be transformative, protecting those most vulnerable to these viral threats and strengthening global health security against both known and emerging members of the filovirus family.”
Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group and Pandemic Sciences Institute Investigator at the University of Oxford, said: “Filoviruses continue to pose a severe and unpredictable threat, causing outbreaks that devastate communities and strain fragile health systems. These outbreaks are ever more frequent, and while we need monovalent vaccines today, we also need to deliver on the aspiration of multivalent vaccines. This new programme will allow us to pursue this longer-term approach: developing multivalent vaccines that provide broad, durable protection against multiple known filovirus threats.”
Professor Clara Schoeder from Leipzig University, Institute for Drug Discovery, said: “Leipzig University has been developing AI-assisted computational technologies to generate suitable vaccine candidates in a rapid manner supported by CEPI under the Disease X programme. Teaming up with the University of Oxford and CEPI to see these computationally designed multivalent vaccine candidates to be tested will allow us to optimize our approaches and contribute to the overall goal to provide multivalent vaccines for Filoviruses.”
The European Commission’s Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA), and Marc Lemaître, Director-General, DG Research and Innovation said: “The European Commission is happy to support this innovative collaboration that aims to accelerate the development of multivalent vaccines against filoviruses. This effort not only addresses the immediate needs related to current viral threats but also enhances global readiness for future pandemics. With the commitment to equitable access and scientific excellence, we are taking crucial steps toward ensuring global health security and safeguarding communities worldwide.”
Designing a broadly protective filovirus vaccine
Experts at the Institute for Drug Discovery in Leipzig (IDDL) will use advanced AI to design a range of immunogens—the substances in a vaccine that trigger an immune response—with the potential to provide broad protection against filoviruses. CEPI has an ongoing partnership with IDDL focusing on immunogen design for range of high-priority viral families.
The immunogens will be added to both the University of Oxford’s ChAdOx viral vector vaccine platform and Moderna’s mRNA vaccine platform and tested head-to-head in preclinical studies to find the optimal combinations. Should a suitably promising vaccine candidate emerge from these studies, it could then be evaluated for safety and immunogenicity in Phase I clinical trials in the UK, potentially providing crucial proof-of-concept data for broadly protective filovirus vaccines.
Preparing for future filovirus threats
This collaboration will help drive forward CEPI’s 100 Days Mission which aims to ensure the world can respond to future pandemic threats within 100 days of identifying a novel virus.
The ChAdOx and mRNA vaccine technologies are ‘rapid response platforms’, designed for rapid adaptation and large-scale manufacturing, making them well suited for quickly responding to outbreaks and pandemics caused by newly emerging pathogens.
In addition, the scientific insights and immunogen designs developed through this research will enhance CEPI’s ‘Disease X Vaccine Library’—a comprehensive resource of vaccine data and insights on high-risk viral families—giving scientists the tools they need to act swiftly if a new, unknown filovirus with pandemic potential, known as ‘Disease X’, arises.
Committing to equitable access
CEPI, the University of Oxford and consortium partners are committed to ensuring equitable access to the project’s outcomes, following CEPI’s Equitable Access Policy. The partnership agreement includes commitments to affordable pricing and sufficient supply for public health needs. Project results—including data—will be published open access for the benefit of the global scientific community.
Filovirus R&D is a strategic priority for both CEPI and the European Commission due to the epidemic and pandemic threat posed by the viral family. This programme is the third award made under a joint Call for Proposals funded by CEPI and Horizon Europe which aims to develop vaccines that can protect against a range of filoviruses.