CEPI is funding four research projects to assess whether vaccines licensed against Zaire ebolavirus, including Ervebo, could provide protection against Bundibugyo ebolavirus.
New studies are underway to assess if vaccines licensed against the Zaire ebolavirus—including Ervebo—could offer protection against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, the virus behind the rapidly escalating outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The studies are supported by the international organisation CEPI – the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is providing $4.17 million to four research projects conducting them.
The Ebola outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in May 2026. The four awardees undertaking the study include research groups led by UCLA (USA), the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp), the University of Oxford (UK), and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (UK).
“There is no licensed vaccine against Bundibugyo virus. CEPI is funding multiple Bundibugyo vaccine candidates to address this gap, but even on the most compressed timelines those vaccines will not be available for the earliest phase of this outbreak”, said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEPI Chief Executive Officer. “However, vaccines do exist for the related Zaire ebolavirus, including Ervebo. Given the recent announcement that Ervebo will be deployed for emergency use against Bundibugyo virus, these CEPI-backed studies will be all the more important to inform on how we can make the best use of the existing vaccine,” he added.
Explaining how it would work, CEPI said research teams will analyse stored blood samples from individuals vaccinated with licensed/previously licensed vaccines against Zaire ebolavirus either in previous vaccination campaigns and/or clinical trials. They aim to characterise vaccine-induced immune responses and assess cross-reactivity of antibody responses against Bundibugyo ebolavirus.
The critical data that these serology studies will provide will help establish and standardise tests for antibodies against Bundibugyo virus and use longitudinal samples to define the dynamics and durability of these responses, it explained. Data from these studies will also aid interpretation of immune responses in clinical trials, help assess whether Bundibugyo-specific antibodies are associated with protection, and inform future vaccination strategies and evaluation of Bundibugyo-specific and broadly protective filovirus vaccines, CEPI said.
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