Bavarian Nordic, a Danish biotechnology company specializing in research, development and manufacture of active cancer immunotherapies and vaccines for infectious diseases, has been awarded a €9 million subcontract from Crucell Holland, a group company of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical subsidiary Janssen to support the advanced development and manufacturing of the Ebola prime-boost vaccine regimen which consists of Bavarian Nordic's MVA-BN Filo and Janssen’s Ad26.ZEBOV.

The primary contract was awarded to Janssen by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) as it prioritizes the rapid development of the regimen. As part of the accelerated development program, Janssen has initiated multiple clinical studies of the prime-boost Ebola vaccine regimen in Europe and Africa. To date, Bavarian Nordic has produced and delivered the bulk equivalent of over 1 million doses of its vaccine.

The five-year base subcontract for the Danish company covers studies to improve the manufacturing process and establish long-term storage of MVA-BN Filo bulk vaccine as well as options for an additional $24 million award to implement process development activities for formulation of a final drug product with a longer shelf life.

Paul Chaplin, CEO of Bavarian Nordic, said the company is encouraged that the US Government, through BARDA – with which it has worked for over a decade – recognizes the potential of the vaccine to build international preparedness for current and future Ebola outbreaks.