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Danish firm advances its Ebola vaccine

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Danish firm advances its Ebola vaccine
When combined with Janssen’s AdVac, Bavarian Nordic's MVA-BN Filovirus has demonstrated complete protection against Ebola. Photo: Betina Garcia/Scanpix

The Danish biomedical company Bavarian Nordic has entered into an agreement with Belgian firm Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies to further develop Bavarian’s Ebola vaccine.

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Bavarian Nordic announced in a press release that it has signed a global licence and supply agreement for its Ebola vaccine candidate, MVA-BN Filovirus, with Crucell Holland BV, a subsidiary of Janssen. 
 
According to the company, when combined with Janssen’s AdVac, MVA-BN Filovirus has demonstrated complete protection against Ebola in pre-clinical studies. Janssen will now carry out further clinic studies and is working with authorities to make the vaccines available in west Africa.
 
 
“We have been developing potential vaccines against Ebola for several years. The gravity of the situation has called for immediate action from authorities and drug developers to fast-track the development of urgently needed medical countermeasures, and we are happy to join this effort together with Janssen, who has demonstrated their leadership by committing to accelerating this vaccine and actively supporting the areas in west Africa affected by the outbreak,” Bavarian Nordic CEO Paul Chaplin said in a statement. 
 
Under the new agreement, Bavarian Nordic will grant Janssen an exclusive licence for MVA-BN Filovirus. Bavarian Nordic will receive an upfront payment of $25 million (147 million kroner) and can earn up to an additional $20 million (117 million kroner) by hitting additional regulatory milestones and through royalties for commercial sales outside Africa.
 
Bavarian announced that as a result of the deal, it will raise its expectations for the year-end cash preparedness from approximately 600 million kroner ($102.4 million) to one billion kroner ($170.6 million).
 
An outbreak of Ebola has killed more than 4,500 people, primarily in the three west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

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