Bavarian Nordic Updates on Mpox Vaccine Supply

Bavarian Nordic, a biotechnology company, has announced plans to increase production of its MVA-BN mpox vaccine in response to the global mpox outbreak. The move follows the World Health Organization's classification of mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Bavarian Nordic has already dispatched over 250,000 doses of the vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and has committed to donating an additional 500,000 doses.

UNICEF and the Africa CDC predict that as many as 12 million vaccine doses will be required by 2025 to protect high-risk populations in the DRC and neighboring regions. To help meet this urgent need, Bavarian Nordic is set to produce up to 2 million doses by the end of this year. To achieve this, the company is delaying some of its existing orders originally scheduled for 2024 to 2025. This will allow them to prioritize the immediate demand posed by the current outbreak.

In addition to these efforts, Bavarian Nordic has established multi-year agreements with various countries and has responded to an emergency tender from UNICEF for 2 million doses. The company aims to deliver up to 13 million doses by the close of 2025. They are also exploring the possibility of further expanding their production capacity through new partnerships.

Bavarian Nordic is considering entering into manufacturing agreements in Africa and other regions to boost their production capabilities. If the demand and regulatory approvals align, this could potentially result in the supply of an additional 50 million doses.

The MVA-BN vaccine, known as Jynneos in the United States and Imvamune/Imvanex in other countries, is a live, non-replicating smallpox and monkeypox vaccine. It received its first approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019 and became commercially available in the U.S. earlier this year in April.