The agreements between GSK and Sabin in this regard are for advancing the development of the prophylactic candidate Ebola vaccines against the Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan and the Marburg virus.
Currently, there are no licensed vaccines are available against the three viruses, which are known to cause hemorrhagic fever with subsequent death in an average of 50% of cases, as per WHO fact sheets.
GSK Vaccines chief medical officer Thomas Breuer said: “These agreements with the Sabin Vaccine Institute are an important next step in the fight against Ebola and Marburg viruses.
“Enabling Sabin to build on the scientific progress GSK has delivered up to Phase II increases the likelihood these candidate vaccines may help prevent potential future outbreaks, and exemplifies GSK’s approach to global health vaccines which supports partners in taking forward our innovations in a sustainable way.”
As per the agreements, Sabin has also acquired certain patent rights pertaining to the Ebola vaccines. The three candidate vaccines were developed initially through a collaboration between the US National Institutes of Health and Okairos, which was acquired in 2013 by GSK.
The investigational Ebola vaccines, based on GSK’s ChAd3 platform, were developed further by the company, including a phase 2 development for the Ebola Zaire vaccine.
For further development of the ChAd3 Ebola and Marburg vaccines, Sabin has forged a research collaboration agreement with the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
According to GSK, the ChAd3-based vaccines against Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, and Marburg viruses have so far shown a strong safety profile and promising immunogenicity results after being administered to over 5,000 adults and 600 children, in 13 different clinical trials.
Sabin CEO Amy Finan said: “As an organization committed to improving lives through immunization, Sabin is dedicated to preventing devastating outbreaks of the Ebola and Marburg viruses. Thanks to GSK’s longstanding engagement in global health, as well as its scientific expertise, the ChAd3 vaccine program is well positioned to be an effective weapon in the global community’s arsenal against Ebola.”