Public Health Vaccines wins more BARDA funding for Sudan and Bundibugyo Ebola vaccines

Public Health Vaccines said June 9, 2026, it won an added BARDA option worth more than $33 million to advance a Sudan ebolavirus vaccine and two Bundibugyo ebolavirus candidates. The award expands work on filovirus countermeasures as outbreaks continue and no licensed vaccines exist for either disease.

Why it matters: - The new BARDA funding expands U.S. government support for vaccines aimed at two deadly filoviruses with no licensed preventive options. - Sudan virus disease has an estimated fatality rate of about 50%, and Bundibugyo ebolavirus disease has a fatality rate of 25% to 50%. - The award is meant to speed development of medical countermeasures for future outbreaks in Africa and elsewhere.

What happened: - Public Health Vaccines said June 9, 2026, that BARDA awarded the company an additional option under its existing contract. - The option adds more than $33 million to advance a Sudan ebolavirus vaccine candidate and begin work on two Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine candidates. - The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. - The vaccine programs use the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus, or rVSV, platform licensed from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

The details: - The Sudan candidate is based on technology originally developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. - One Bundibugyo candidate is being developed with PHAC. - A second Bundibugyo candidate is partially funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and comes from research by Dr. Andrea Marzi and Dr. Heinz Feldmann at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. - Sudan and Bundibugyo viruses are hemorrhagic fever filoviruses in the same family as Ebola Zaire virus. - The viruses have caused sporadic outbreaks in Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. - Sudan and Bundibugyo viruses can spread through person-to-person contact, contaminated objects or contact with infected animals such as bats and nonhuman primates. - The current Bundibugyo virus outbreak is among the examples cited in the release. - Public Health Vaccines previously received $10 million from BARDA in February 2019 for Marburg vaccine development. - The company has since received an additional $45 million for that Marburg program. - The Marburg vaccine is expected to enter Phase II clinical testing in the coming months.

Between the lines: - BARDA is continuing to back platform-based vaccine development rather than funding each pathogen program from scratch. - The mix of BARDA, PHAC, CEPI and NIAID-linked research shows how outbreak preparedness increasingly depends on shared public-private development pipelines. - Public Health Vaccines is positioning its rVSV platform as a reusable base for multiple filovirus vaccines, which could shorten development timelines if future outbreaks emerge. - Company COO Dr. Joan Fusco said the expanded support strengthens PHV’s ability to address future emerging filovirus threats.

What’s next: - Public Health Vaccines will advance the Sudan vaccine candidate and start development work on the two Bundibugyo candidates. - The company said its Marburg vaccine will move into Phase II clinical testing in the coming months. - BARDA support continues under contract number HHSO100201900022C.

The bottom line: - Public Health Vaccines is adding another federally backed push against high-fatality filoviruses at a time when no licensed vaccines exist for Sudan or Bundibugyo disease. - More information is available on the company’s website and its LinkedIn page.