Fast facts about the preclinical data supporting IAVI’s Marburg virus vaccine candidate

Marburg virus (MARV) is a filovirus in the same family as Ebola virus. It causes a severe and often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever known as Marburg virus disease (MVD), with clinically similar symptoms to Ebola virus and a high case fatality rate (CFR). In response to this public health threat, IAVI is developing a vaccine against MARV with the goal to ultimately help prevent future outbreaks.  

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Fast facts

• While the average CFR for MVD is around 50%, this number varies – past outbreaks have resulted in a CFR upwards of 88%. The virus is therefore characterized as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization’s Pathogen Prioritization framework.  
• Developing countermeasures against MARV is also a matter of global health security due to its epidemic or bioweapon potential.  
• No licensed vaccines or antivirals are currently available for MVD, which is responsible for sporadic but deadly outbreaks across sub-Saharan Africa. 
• MVD outbreaks are becoming more frequent and geographically widespread. In 2024, Rwanda became the fifth new country in three years to experience its first outbreak. There have been outbreaks every year since 2021. 
• IAVI’s vaccine candidate has generated consistently strong preclinical data, adding to the evidence base for advancing this candidate to a Phase 1 clinical trial. 
• IAVI’s MARV research and development program is funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. 
• Research presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene’s Annual Meeting in Oct. 2024 shared findings from an aerosolized MARV challenge.  
• A single intramuscular vaccination of non-human primates at the lowest dose level completely protected non-human primates against a lethal challenge with MARV. 
• Non-human primates vaccinated intranasally also saw complete protection against an aerosolized MARV challenge. Intranasal vaccination further protected against clinical presentation of MVD. This aerosol challenge study was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. 
• Intranasal vaccination could hold promise for controlling potential outbreaks derived from bioweapons created with aerosolized pathogens, such as MARV.  
• IAVI’s MARV vaccine development program uses the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vaccine vector platform, in which IAVI’s Design & Development Laboratory specializes.  
• IAVI has been developing rVSV vaccines for more than 20 years and has been developing rVSV-based vaccines for EIDs since 2018. 
• All IAVI’s EID vaccine candidates use the same rVSV vector as ERVEBO^®, Merck’s single-dose Ebola Zaire vaccine that has been critical to Ebola outbreak responses and is licensed in more than a dozen countries. 
• IAVI is developing our EID vaccines and clinical trials together with experts in affected countries and a range of partners in the U.S. and Europe.