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As Ebola sweeps through parts of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, there's now a

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race on to develop a vaccine. The Coalition
for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or SEPI

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says it will give about $60 million to drug
maker Moderna and two other groups. That's to

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fund development of a vaccine for the rare
bundibugio strain of the virus which is behind

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the outbreak. SEPI Chief Executive Richard
Hatchett was hopeful of speedy progress. They

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demonstrated in COVID that they could get to
clinical trials in around 2 months. Yeah, we're

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saying it's possible. We're not making any
promises, but he cautioned that medicine

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development can be unpredictable, while the
complex security situation in eastern Congo

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will make trials complex. There are currently
no approved vaccines or treatments for the

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Bundibugio strain. The outbreak has caused
over 280 confirmed cases and more than 40

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deaths. That's according to the World Health
Organization and other bodies which say there

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are over 1000 more suspected cases. Besides
Moderna, some investment will go to a drug

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developed by Britain's University of Oxford
and made by the Serum Institute of India. It

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uses the same technology as a shot developed
for COVID-19 and could be ready for trials in

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around 6 weeks. There will also be money for a
treatment produced by the International AIDS

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Vaccine Initiative, based on a shot for a
different Ebola strain. Other bodies, including

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the World Bank's Pandemic Fund, have
separately announced grants for vaccine

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development.