Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) today announced an expanded collaboration with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance the development of a potential vaccine against Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV), a cause of Ebola virus disease for which there are currently no licensed vaccines indicated.

Under the agreement, CEPI has committed up to US $50 million to support preclinical development and Phase 1 clinical testing of Moderna's investigational BDBV vaccine candidate. The funding will also support parallel manufacturing activities, enabling doses to be produced while clinical evaluation is underway and positioning the program to rapidly advance into large-scale Phase 2/3 trials should the Phase 1 safety and immunogenicity data support further development.

The vaccine candidate is being developed using Moderna's mRNA platform, the same technology that demonstrated rapid development, scalability, and global deployment capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also builds on Moderna's existing research and development efforts in filoviruses, including Ebola-related viruses.

The collaboration further expands Moderna's longstanding strategic collaboration with CEPI, which is focused on accelerating the development of vaccines and other countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats.