Bavarian Nordic starts safety and immunogenicity study of Ebola vaccine in Sierra Leone

Bavarian Nordic (OMX: BAVA) on Friday said it has started a new staged Phase III clinical study of the Ebola prime-boost vaccine in combination with a vaccine from Crucell Holland.

The company said it will test its MVA-BN Filo vaccine with the Ad26.ZEBOV vaccine from Crucell, a subsidiary of US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). The study is designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the combination regimen. The trial is being coordinated by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and sponsored by Janssen, also a J&J subsidiary.

Paul Chaplin, chief executive of Bavarian Nordic, said: “The initiation of EBOVAC-Salone marks an important milestone for our joint program with Janssen. It is a significant step forward in the development of a vaccine against Ebola. It is remarkable how far the program has moved, which has only been possible due to the commitment and dedication shown by both Janssen and our employees in terms of the progress we have made in manufacturing bulk vaccine for almost 2 million doses and initiating this study within a year of joining forces.”