The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recently announced a new, $10 million partnership with Public Health Vaccines LLC to study potential vaccine treatments for the Marburg virus.
Through the Biomedical Advanced research and Development Authority (BARDA), the DHHS will work with Public Health Vaccines over a two year period on the project. No licensed vaccine currently exists to fight Marburg — part of the same hemorrhagic fever family as Ebola — and the two organizations seek to combat its high mortality outbreaks. To date it mostly occurs in Africa, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has noted the threat of its use in bioterrorism events.
“This vaccine candidate is the first BARDA has funded against the Marburg virus, and it is an important step toward meeting an urgent public health and biodefense need,” BARDA Director Rick Bright said. “We will leverage our experience in establishing public-private partnerships that bring results that are critical to saving lives and protecting Americans – and possibly people across the globe – from health security threats.”
Public Health Vaccines will initiate preclinical development. If proof of concept is demonstrated, BARDA could provide them up to $72 million more to bring that vaccine through a Phase 2 clinical trial. Those funds could also then be used for development of a vaccine candidate for another closely affiliated virus, known as the Sudan ebolavirus.