IAVI, Moderna and Oxford University Working on Three New Ebola Vaccines

Three organizations — IAVI, Moderna and Oxford University — are actively developing new Ebola vaccines as concerns grow over the potential spread of disease outbreaks. The development of new vaccines is taking place at a time when international attention has focused on the possible expansion of Ebola.

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), US biotechnology company Moderna and the University of Oxford in the UK are all working in parallel on developing new Ebola vaccines. This is happening at a time when growing fears of a new Ebola outbreak have prompted scientists and health organizations to accelerate vaccine research.

The Ebola virus is an extremely dangerous hemorrhagic fever with historically very high mortality rates. Although existing vaccines have been approved and deployed, scientists want to develop more effective and more widely accessible variants to address potential future outbreaks.

Moderna is using mRNA technology in its vaccine development, which has proven its effectiveness in COVID-19 vaccines. IAVI and Oxford University are approaching the problem through different platforms, diversifying solutions that could be critical in controlling future outbreaks.

Developing Ebola vaccines is a complex process, as testing must take place in high-biosafety-level laboratories and conducting clinical trials is logistically challenging. International collaboration between different institutions is therefore particularly important to accelerate the delivery of vaccines to market.