Moderna in pact for U.S. vaccine contract targeting Ebola
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The University of Texas has won a contract worth up to $25M from the U.S. Department of Defense ((DoD)) to develop vaccines against biological threats such as Ebola in partnership with Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) using the biotechâs mRNA technology.
As part of the three-year agreement, the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) will receive $13.5M from the DoD for the development of the filovirus vaccines targeting bola (EBOV), Sudan (SUDV), Marburg (MARV), and Lassa (LASV) viruses through a Phase 1 trial.
UTMB will collaborate with Moderna (MRNA) to apply the companyâs messenger RNA platform to design, produce, and test the vaccine candidates.
The project also allows up to $11.1M of extra funding if options are exercised for additional tasks, such as alternative routes for immunization. 
Filoviruses, EBOV, SUDV, and MARV, cause outbreaks, particularly in Central and West sub-Saharan Africa. There is no currently approved vaccine for the prevention of Ebola.
In October, Moderna (MRNA) shares gained amid reports of an impending deal with the U.S. to develop messenger-RNA-based vaccines targeting multiple biological threats, including Ebola.
Read: On Wednesday, Uganda and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the countryâs latest Ebola outbreak was over.