DIOSynVax and the University of Cambridge awarded £4.28 m to Advance a Haemorrhagic Fever Vaccine

As part of this national initiative, DIOSynVax Ltd, together with partners at the University of Cambridge, University of Regensburg, and University of Southampton has been awarded £4.28 million over three years to support the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) and first-in-human clinical trials of a multivalent vaccine (DVX-HFVac3) designed to provide protection against Lassa fever virus, Marburg virus and Sudan ebolavirus.

The award directly supports the UK Government’s objective of accelerating the development, testing and deployment of vaccines against epidemic threats, while strengthening the UK’s scientific leadership and pandemic preparedness capabilities. The DVX-HFVac3 programme follows promising preclinical results reported in the study Simultaneous broad protection against Ebola Sudan, Marburg and Lassa viruses conferred by a DNA primed MVA-vectored multivalent vaccine, which demonstrated robust protection against all three deadly viral haemorrhagic fever pathogens in parallel challenge studies. Vaccinated animals achieved complete protection against Sudan ebolavirus and Lassa fever virus challenge and 95% protection against Marburg virus challenge.

An urgent issue

These pathogens – the Ebola Sudan, Marburg and Lassa viruses- continue to cause recurrent outbreaks across sub-Saharan Africa. Lassa fever, Marburg virus disease and Sudan ebolavirus disease remain among the world’s highest-consequence infectious diseases because of their potential for severe illness, high mortality rates and the risk of international spread.

The overlapping symptoms caused by these infections often complicate diagnosis and delay deployment of appropriate countermeasures. A single vaccine capable of protecting against multiple haemorrhagic fever viruses could transform outbreak preparedness and response, particularly in regions where diagnostic capacity and healthcare resources are limited.

Jonathan Heeney, Professor of Research in Vaccinology at the University of Cambridge, and Founder of DIOSynVax Ltd, said:

“The UK Government’s investment recognises that infectious diseases emerging anywhere in the world can rapidly become a threat everywhere. Recent outbreaks of Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever continue to remind us that preparedness cannot begin after an outbreak starts.

“DVX-HFVac3 represents a fundamentally different strategy: using computationally designed vaccine antigens to provide broad protection against multiple viral haemorrhagic fevers with a single vaccine.

Our preclinical studies demonstrated simultaneous protection against three of Africa’s most serious outbreak pathogens, providing strong support for advancing this candidate into clinical development.”

Prof Heeney also added: “This Innovate UK award enables us and our academic and industrial partners to take the critical next steps towards GMP manufacture and clinical trials. Ultimately, our goal is to deliver affordable, broadly protective vaccines that help prevent outbreaks from becoming regional or global health emergencies.”

Dr Terry Parlett continued: “Our mission is to support Cambridge’s commitment to translating cutting-edge scientific discoveries into tangible public health benefits. and we are proud to support the University, it’s spinout (DIOSynVax) and their collaborators in the advancement of DVX-HFVac3 toward clinical evaluation.”

Professor Saul Faust, Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Southampton, and Clinical Trial lead said:

“The strong preclinical results seen with DIOS-HFVac3 provide an important foundation for clinical development. This Innovate UK award enables us to take the critical next step of evaluating the vaccine’s safety and immunogenicity in human volunteers, bringing this innovative approach closer to the populations and healthcare workers who may one day benefit from it.

We are delighted to work with our partners across Cambridge, Southampton, Regensburg and DIOSynVax to advance this important programme.”

A broadly protective haemorrhagic fever vaccine

The vaccine, called DVX-HFVac3, is a multivalent vaccine developed using the DIOSynVax computational vaccine design platform. The vaccine incorporates DIOSynVax’s Immune optimised antigens from the Ebola related Filoviruses, Marburg and Lassa fever viruses within a an attenuated vaccine, MVA, licensed for prevention of Mpox. Preclinical studies demonstrated strong antibody and T-cell immune responses together with significant protection against lethal challenge from all three pathogens.

The newly funded programme will support GMP manufacturing, regulatory preparations and Phase I clinical evaluation of DIOS-HFVac3, with the goal of providing a broadly protective countermeasure against viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks that continue to threaten public health, regional stability and economic development across Africa and beyond.

A Cambridge Enterprise portfolio company

DIOSynVax is a spinout company set up in 2017 with the support of Cambridge Enterprise, co-founded by Professor Heeney, with the aim of changing the way vaccines are made. Alongside this new award, in the past few years, Prof Heeney has won significant funding and investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Innovate UK and Cambridge Enterprise to develop new vaccines for diseases ranging from influenza to Ebola and other haemorrhagic fevers and, more recently, COVID-19.

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