Bavarian Nordic plans to ramp up vaccine manufacturing to ensure the continued access to the monkeypox vaccine, in response to the current monkeypox outbreak in Africa.
The Danish drugmaker has already supplied more than 15 million doses of the mpox vaccine to more than 76 countries around the world from 2022-2023. Now, Bavarian Nordic has informed the Africa CDC that it has the capacity to manufacture 10 million doses by the end of 2025, in addition to current orders, and could already supply up to 2 million doses this year. The company said it is also working to expand its manufacturing network to include Africa.
The Africa CDC, followed by the World Health Organization (WHO), declared mpox a public health emergency last week.
The majority of the current mpox cases in Africa are occuring in people younger than 18 years old. Bavarian Nordic recently submitted clinical data to the EMA to potentially extend the shot's use to adolescents (12–17 years old) in Europe. Through a collaboration with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the company also plans to initiate a clinical trial to assess the immunogenicity and safety of its mpox vaccine in children from 2-12 years of age.
Bavarian Nordic's live, non-replicating smallpox and monkeypox vaccine, branded Jynneos in the U.S. and Imvamune/Imvanex internationally, was first approved by the U.S. FDA in 2019. Back in April, it became commerically available in the U.S.
Emergent BioSolutions, who sold its travel health business to Bavarian Nordic last year for $380 million, also has a smallpox vaccine that has been made available in the current mpox outbreak under the FDA's expanded access IND protocol. The drugmaker is currently supplying the U.S. government with the vaccine, ACAM2000, as part of a $250 ASPR contract.