Moderna and Team Receive $1.89 Billion TWD Funding to Accelerate Ebola Vaccine Development

Central News Agency, London, June 1. To address the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the global public health organization 'Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations' (CEPI) will provide $60 million in funding to Moderna and two other institutions to accelerate the development of a vaccine for the 'Bundibugyo virus strain'. According to Reuters, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, CEPI was one of the early investment institutions assisting in vaccine development. CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett told Reuters today that a vaccine against the Ebola Bundibugyo virus strain (BDBV) is expected to be ready for clinical trials within a few months. Currently, there are no approved BDBV vaccines or treatments globally. Hatchett stated that the vaccine is expected to be available in the 'near future', which should help initiate relevant discussions, including who will procure the vaccine and how to fund subsequent comprehensive vaccination programs. He also warned that vaccine development is full of variables, and coupled with the severe security situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, clinical trials will face numerous challenges. In this round of funding, CEPI has pledged up to $50 million (approximately 1.58 billion TWD) to assist in the preclinical and early clinical development of the BDBV candidate vaccine being developed by Moderna. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a phone interview, 'We have conducted Ebola virus research on preclinical models and have shown good results.' He said that given the high mortality rate of Ebola, the goal is to develop a vaccine that can effectively prevent the disease while striving to simplify vaccination strategies. According to statistics from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Democratic Republic of the Congo currently has a cumulative total of 282 confirmed cases, with 42 deaths, and approximately 1,100 suspected cases.