CAIRO, Egypt, August 27, 2026/APO Group/ –Leading African biopharmaceutical company Minapharm Group (www.Minapharm.com), headquartered in Egypt with subsidiaries in Berlin, will receive up to US$16.5 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance the development of a Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine candidate, strengthening efforts to develop vaccines to combat the fastest-growing and second-largest Ebola outbreak on record affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
 




 

Minapharm’s Bundibugyo vaccine is designed by ProBioGen, a Berlin-based specialist within Minapharm Group, based on their proprietary modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine platform, MVA-CR19. A similar technology underpins a licensed vaccine against smallpox and mpox, and has elicited long-term immunity in a vaccine targeting the related Zaire ebolavirus (https://apo-opa.co/4xrvZwE).

CEPI’s funding will advance the Bundibugyo vaccine candidate through preclinical development and into an early-stage clinical trial to assess the immunogenicity and safety of the vaccine candidate. The study in humans, known as a Phase 1 trial, is expected to take place in Africa.

Minapharm’s investigational vaccine becomes the fifth Bundibugyo-specific virus vaccine candidate supported by CEPI in response to the escalating epidemic. It joins a portfolio of promising CEPI-backed candidates* built on different vaccine technologies to maximise the likelihood of developing a safe and effective shot that could help bring this devastating crisis under control.

It is the only Bundibugyo vaccine candidate CEPI is funding that is designed to induce both B- and T-cell responses for comprehensive and long-lasting immunity.

“CEPI’s funding to Minapharm harnesses the growing strength of African-led innovation to help confront this increasingly severe outbreak and prepare for future threats”, said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI.  “In just three months, cases of Bundibugyo have spread rapidly across the DRC, making this the largest and deadliest outbreak the country has ever faced. We are proud to support Minapharm’s Bundibugyo vaccine candidate: it will round out CEPI’s portfolio, give the world another shot on goal, and advance Minapharm’s proprietary MVA platform, which if successful can serve as the basis for future African-manufactured filovirus vaccines. The faster we can advance a pipeline of promising candidates, the better our chances of saving lives and bringing this epidemic under control.”

CEPI’s goal is to bring at least two Bundibugyo vaccines to Emergency Use Authorisation and WHO Prequalification to respond to this outbreak, while also building readiness for future Bundibugyo epidemics.

Dr. Wafik Bardissi, Group Chairman and CEO of Minapharm and Chairman of ProBioGen, said: “For more than 25 years, Minapharm has built proven biologics capabilities in Egypt and, together with ProBioGen, established a cross-continental group model combining scientific innovation, proprietary technologies and advanced biomanufacturing.”

Dr. Bardissi added: “This programme demonstrates the strength of our capabilities across the full biologics continuum, from design and development through to manufacturing, in response to an urgent public-health threat. With CEPI’s support, we are turning scientific ingenuity into health sovereignty, drawing on the breadth of our technologies and know-how to advance a vaccine response for Africa.”

“ProBioGen’s MVA-CR19 platform was developed to enable rapid generation of recombinant MVA vaccine candidates and scalable manufacturing,” said Dr Volker Sandig, Chief Scientific Officer of ProBioGen. “We are proud to bring this platform and our CMC expertise to a Minapharm-led programme supported by CEPI, helping advance a Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine candidate towards clinical evaluation in response to an urgent public-health need.”

Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General, Africa CDC, said, “Bundibugyo virus is now driving the largest Ebola outbreak DRC has ever faced. A vaccine candidate advanced by an African company is exactly the kind of capability our continent needs – not just for this outbreak, but so that Africa can develop and manufacture the tools it needs to protect its own people. We welcome CEPI’s support for Minapharm’s work as a concrete step toward that health sovereignty.”

To develop the Bundibugyo-specific vaccine candidate, ProBioGen —a wholly-owned subsidiary of Minapharm based in Germany—will generate the recombinant MVA drug substance under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines. The drug substance is the active component of a vaccine which includes viral proteins that could train the immune system to recognise and fight a specific pathogen – in this case, Bundibugyo ebolavirus.  The drug substance will then be shipped to Minapharm’s facility in Cairo, Egypt, to create the drug product – the finished vaccine mixture which combines the drug substance with other vaccine ingredients and packaging ready for testing. In parallel, Minapharm plans to transfer drug substance manufacturing to its biotechnology facilities in Cairo, enabling fully local drug substance and drug product manufacturing.

The project leverages more than 25 years of Minapharm’s proven track record and experience in the development, end-to-end manufacturing and commercialisation of complex biologics in Africa.

If the Phase 1 trial of the vaccine candidate is successful, CEPI anticipates working with Minapharm and ProBioGen to support late-stage trials to generate efficacy data for emergency use authorisation and licensure. CEPI, Minapharm and ProBioGen are committed to enabling rapid, affordable supply of the vaccine to affected countries and to the populations that need them should it prove safe and effective.

A positive outcome from this project could also lay the foundation for the future expansion of Minapharm’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities, potentially with support from CEPI and other partners.

To date, CEPI’s Bundibugyo virus vaccine development programme receives funds from the European Commission through its 2026 grant under Horizon Europe to CEPI, the U.S. Department of State and CEPI’s existing core funding.

The financing forms part of an expansion programme that will raise Biovac’s total annual manufacturing capacity up to 500 million doses. Once complete, Biovac is expected to become Africa’s first end-to-end producer of oral cholera vaccine and South Africa’s first locally produced inactivated polio vaccine, and the first on the continent to produce inactivated polio vaccine through technology-transfer partnerships with Sanofi, the International Vaccine Institute, Biological E Limited, EuBiologics, and Bharat Biotech. For more than two decades, Biovac has been South Africa’s primary vaccine supplier,

Africa currently imports more than 99 percent of the vaccines it uses, even though the continent carries a disproportionate share of the world’s vaccine-preventable disease burden. In response, the African Union aims to produce 60 percent of the continent’s vaccines locally by 2040. (https://apo-opa.co/4c0qcoV) Beyond vaccines, the project is projected to create around 340 full-time jobs, with an estimated 43 percent of these roles going to women and 30 percent going to youths. Biovac, which already employs more than 300 staff — half of them women — will also expand training in vaccine manufacturing, quality control, and regulatory science in partnership with local universities and other regional training institutions.

“This investment in Biovac is about much more than expanding vaccine production capacity. It is about building Africa’s health sovereignty, strengthening regional value chains, and creating industrial capabilities that will enable the continent to respond more effectively to future health emergencies,” said Solomon Quaynor, the Bank Group’s Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialisation. “By supporting Africa’s first end-to-end oral cholera vaccine manufacturing facility and the continent’s first local production of inactivated polio vaccine, we are helping transform Africa from a consumer of imported vaccines into a producer of critical health solutions.”

“We welcome the African Development Bank as a partner in this landmark project and are proud that an institution so central to Africa’s development sees in Biovac the same opportunity we see, a chance to fundamentally shift the continent’s relationship with its own health security,” said Biovac Chief Executive Officer Morena Makhoana. “The project will shift the narrative from majority-imported vaccines to majority-exported vaccines. This is part of changing that reality permanently. This is what Africa’s health sovereignty looks like in practice, and we are honoured to be building it.”

The Bank Group’s support for Biovac aligns with its broader commitment to developing Africa’s pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing ecosystem, creating quality jobs, fostering innovation, and advancing African Union targets.

“This project allows one of Africa’s most experienced manufacturers to scale up exactly where the need is greatest: vaccines that protect children from cholera, polio, pneumonia and meningitis,” said Kennedy Mbekeani, the Bank Group’s Director General for Southern Africa, and Country Manager for South Africa.

The expansion project is also designed to plug directly into the continent’s emerging vaccine-financing architecture, including Gavi’s African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), (https://apo-opa.co/4c1QFT4) a $1.2 billion mechanism that rewards African manufacturers with milestone payments once they reach WHO prequalification, plus a per-dose top-up on vaccines supplied through UNICEF tenders.

Biovac’s new facility is expected to be completed by 2028 and will initially produce vaccines for cholera (oral) and subsequently for polio (IPV), pneumonia (PCV), and meningitis (MenX).

The Bank joins a syndicate of development finance institutions backing the project. The syndicate is led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and supported by a long-term quasi-equity facility from the Human Development Accelerator (HDX) programme, a European Union-backed initiative implemented by the European Investment Bank in partnership with the Gates Foundation. The package is complemented by grant funding and support from other global health partners for technology transfers that will bring new vaccines into Biovac’s portfolio.

Biovac is a South African biopharmaceutical company established in 2003 in partnership with the South African government to develop local vaccine manufacturing capability. Based in Cape Town, it currently manufactures and supplies much-needed routine paediatric vaccines and has delivered more than 450 million vaccine doses to countries across Southern Africa, including COVID-19 vaccines.

Developed by Afreximbank in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London, AMCE was established to help transform specialist healthcare delivery in Africa, by strengthening clinical capacity, advancing research and education, creating a sustainable ecosystem for world-class care on the continent and in turn, reducing dependence on medical travel abroad.

In its first year of operation, AMCE has moved from vision to measurable impact, demonstrating how development finance can transform healthcare on the continent.

The Centre has registered over 5,000 patients from more than 20 countries across four continents, underscoring its growing role as a regional and global referral centre for advanced specialist healthcare.

Beyond the numbers are lives already being transformed. During its first year, AMCE has achieved several important clinical milestones. The Centre delivered West Africa’s first Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for lung cancer, treating an octogenarian with a localised lung tumour using a highly precise, non-invasive technique that previously required many patients to travel abroad. The Centre also completed its first complex Triple Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), demonstrating that advanced cardiac care can now be delivered to global standards within Africa. AMCE also successfully completed two Stem cell transplants.

Its advanced laboratory has processed more than 40,000 diagnostic tests and investigations, completed 10 open-heart surgeries and 11 cardiac surgical procedures under the cardiac programme, administered 99 catheterisation laboratory procedures, and 173 anaesthesia-supported procedures in just a year.

Additionally, the Centre has commenced Nuclear medicine services, with Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging now available for bone scans, renograms, and perfusion scans, while Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) imaging is scheduled to commence later in the year.

Speaking during the visit, Dr. Elombi applauded the remarkable progress recorded by the Centre within its first year of operation, describing it as a compelling demonstration of African excellence, institutional resolve, and shared purpose. He stated: “The success of this Centre reflects the depth of talent assembled here and the pan-African spirit that underpins its service. The vision that inspired the conception and construction of this facility is the same conviction now being carried forward by the medical professionals delivering care to the continent. The AMCE provides health services and advances Africa’s health sovereignty while affirming our collective capacity to take responsibility for our own lives and future. The AMCE is a world-class quaternary healthcare facility delivering medical services of a standard that many would previously have sought beyond the continent. Nigerians, and citizens across Africa, must take full advantage of this facility—built by African institutions with the steadfast support of our governments.”

AMCE Chief Executive Officer, Brian Deaver, said Dr. Elombi’s visit marks an important milestone in the Centre’s journey and provides an opportunity to reflect on the impact AMCE has made in just one year.

“Our progress, from pioneering clinical achievements to earning growing trust across the region, demonstrates that Africa can build and sustain world-class centres of excellence. With Afreximbank’s continued vision and support, we remain committed to advancing patient care, research, education and innovation to strengthen health systems across the continent”.  Deaver noted.

Dr Elombi also toured key clinical departments, interacted with healthcare professionals and staff, and received updates on the Centre’s operational performance, clinical achievements and long-term expansion plans. He thanked the facilities’ employees for their commitment to building a new benchmark for specialist healthcare in Africa, noting that the Centre’s early achievements reflect the dedication, professionalism and shared vision of its workforce.

Today, AMCE employs more than 600 clinical and non-clinical professionals, representing 12 nationalities, and reflecting its growing reputation as a destination for highly skilled healthcare professionals. Earlier this year, the Centre also earned Great Place to Work® Certification, with 90 percent of employees affirming it is a great place to work.