Certain pharma companies, governments and public health agencies have separately pledged to help build up vaccine supply in Africa to address the mpox outbreak.
Emergent BioSolutions on Monday said it would give away 50,000 doses of its smallpox vaccine ACAM2000 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Although the vaccine is only FDA-approved for smallpox, mpox is part of the same disease family, meaning the vaccine could be used to protect against both viruses.
Elsewhere, after a request from the DRC, Japan is set to send some of its stockpile of KM Biologics’ mpox vaccine LC16 to the African country, according to a Reuters report. The vaccine won approval from Japan’s health ministry back in 2022, and its use so far has been limited to Japan.
Since the WHO declared mpox a global health emergency last Wednesday, much of the attention has been on Bavarian Nordic and its mpox vaccine Jynneos. In June, DRC authorities issued an emergency use authorization for Jynneos and KM’s LC16. Jynneos and LC16 are typically given in two doses 28 days apart.
And on Saturday, Bavarian Nordic underscored its “strong partnership with the Africa CDC,” saying it is working to supply its mpox vaccine to the continent and expand its broader network to include Africa. It has also told the Africa CDC that it can make 10 million doses of Jynneos by the end of 2025, on top of current orders.
Last week, Bavarian Nordic donated 40,000 shots of its vaccine to the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority. If buyers make a firm procurement request, Bavarian could make 2.4 million doses by the end of the year, according to the WHO.
On the diagnostic side, Roche said Tuesday it’s working to increase lab testing capacity for mpox globally. The Swiss pharma currently trains staff to work in labs across Africa at its scientific campus in South Africa.
Emergent’s vaccine, which contains a live, replicating vaccinia virus, is administered using a two-pronged needle. The vaccinia virus belongs to the same orthopoxvirus genus as mpox.
A key disadvantage of ACAM2000, however, is that it leaves behind a scab that’s capable of spreading the live virus to other parts of the body. It also carries a one-in-175 risk of swelling of the heart and surrounding tissues, and is not recommended for people with a compromised immune system.
Jynneos, meanwhile, contains a live but non-replicating vaccinia virus and is approved by the FDA and EMA to prevent both smallpox and mpox. Last week, the US said it will donate 50,000 doses of Jynneos to the DRC.
The current mpox outbreak is driven by the more deadly clade I virus strain, in contrast to the milder clade II strain that was behind the 2022 outbreak. Last week, SIGA Technologies’ antiviral drug tecovirimat disappointed in a Phase 2 trial in children and adults in the DRC.