UNICEF, Gavi seek vaccine makers as Ebola outbreak spurs push for Bundibugyo shots

UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have launched a global outreach programme to vaccine developers and manufacturers to accelerate the development and production of vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, amid a growing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

The move comes as health authorities grapple with an outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which no approved vaccine currently exists. According to data shared by the organisations, the outbreak has resulted in 1,094 confirmed cases and 277 deaths in eastern DRC, while Uganda has reported 20 confirmed cases and two deaths.

UNICEF on Wednesday issued a Request for Expression of Interest (EOI) inviting vaccine developers and manufacturers to submit details of their candidate vaccines, development timelines, manufacturing plans and scale-up capabilities. The information will be used to identify the most promising vaccine candidates and assess how funding can be deployed to accelerate access.

The initiative follows Gavi's commitment of up to $40 million in financing aimed at speeding up vaccine availability should a candidate prove safe and effective.

The funding is intended to support manufacturing readiness, production scale-up, regulatory pathways such as World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Use Listing and prequalification, and the availability of investigational doses for emergency deployment during outbreaks.

The call to manufacturers comes as global health agencies seek to avoid a repeat of past outbreaks where vaccine development lagged the spread of disease. While vaccines are available against the Ebola Zaire species and are maintained through a global stockpile managed by UNICEF on behalf of the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, no such vaccine exists for the Bundibugyo strain.

The EOI builds on ongoing efforts by WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has been supporting the research and clinical development of vaccine candidates. UNICEF and Gavi will focus on assessing manufacturing preparedness and identifying financing mechanisms that can help move successful candidates rapidly from development to deployment.

The development effort also has an India link. The Serum Institute of India is partnering with the University of Oxford on ChAdOx1 BDBV, a vaccine candidate against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola that is among those being prioritised for further evaluation. The candidate is supported by CEPI, while the latest UNICEF-Gavi initiative aims to accelerate manufacturing readiness and future access to doses if the vaccine proves safe and effective.

The organisations said special consideration would be given to proposals involving vaccine production in Africa, reflecting broader efforts to strengthen regional manufacturing capacity and improve access during public health emergencies.

In addition to supporting outbreak response, manufacturer submissions will help inform future UNICEF procurement strategies for Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines if and when products receive regulatory approval.

Gavi has separately committed up to $10 million from its First Response Fund to support outbreak control measures, including routine immunisation, protection of healthcare workers and emergency response activities in affected countries.