Bilex Pharma is honoured to announce it has been awarded a significant grant of £15 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). This crucial funding will accelerate the development and validation of Bilex Pharma’s rapid-response vaccine platform, a key component of its Project RESPOND pandemic preparedness initiative.
Strengthening Global Defences Against Future Pandemics
CEPI is a leading global partnership launched to develop vaccines against future epidemics and pandemics, making them accessible to all people in need. A central pillar of CEPI’s strategy is the “100 Days Mission,” which aims to compress vaccine development timelines to just 100 days from pathogen identification to readiness for large-scale manufacturing – a goal requiring significant advancements in platform technologies and preparedness.
Bilex Pharma’s Project RESPOND is directly aligned with this mission, leveraging the company’s advanced mRNA technology (BiLipid™ delivery system and SAMplify™ self-amplifying platform) to enable swift adaptation and production of vaccine candidates against novel viral threats.
Funding to Drive Key Platform Advancements
The £15 million grant from CEPI will specifically support Bilex Pharma in:
- Optimising its Rapid Response mRNA Platform: Further refining standardized processes and workflows to enable rapid vaccine design, development, and testing upon identification of a new pathogen.
- Enhancing Thermostability: Advancing formulation work, building on recent breakthroughs, to create vaccine candidates suitable for deployment in diverse geographical settings, minimizing cold chain dependency.
- Developing Prototype Vaccines: Creating and testing prototype vaccine candidates against select CEPI priority pathogens to validate the platform’s effectiveness and response time.
- Establishing Manufacturing Readiness: Ensuring manufacturing processes and facilities are prepared for rapid scale-up and production during a public health emergency, including readiness at the MHRA-approved Manchester facility.
- Supporting Nipah Virus Candidate: Providing further support for the ongoing development of BLX-NIPAH01, a key demonstrator candidate within the Project RESPOND portfolio.
“Receiving this substantial funding from CEPI is a tremendous validation of our technology platform and our strategic approach to pandemic preparedness,” said Dr. Andras Ottlik, CEO of Bilex Pharma. “This partnership significantly strengthens our ability to contribute meaningfully to the global 100 Days Mission. We are deeply committed to leveraging this support to build robust capabilities that can help protect the world from future infectious disease threats.”
Dr. Eleanor Harrington, Chief Scientific Officer at Bilex Pharma, added: “The speed and flexibility of mRNA technology make it ideally suited for rapid pandemic response. This CEPI funding allows us to rigorously optimise and validate our platform, ensuring we can move from sequence to vaccine candidate with maximum speed and efficiency, incorporating critical features like enhanced thermostability from the outset.”
A Collaborative Effort for Global Health Security
This grant underscores the importance of public-private partnerships in tackling global health security challenges. By investing in innovative platforms like Bilex Pharma’s, CEPI is fostering the development of critical tools needed to prevent future pandemics from having the devastating impact seen in recent years.
The collaboration will involve close coordination between Bilex Pharma and CEPI’s scientific and manufacturing teams, sharing data and insights to ensure alignment with global preparedness goals and standards.
Looking Forward
Work funded by the CEPI grant will commence immediately, focusing on platform optimisation, prototype development, and manufacturing readiness exercises. This initiative represents a major acceleration of Bilex Pharma’s Project RESPOND, positioning the company as a key contributor to the UK and global pandemic preparedness landscape.
Bilex Pharma is proud to partner with CEPI in this vital mission and looks forward to reporting progress on the development of its rapid response vaccine platform, working towards a future where the world is better prepared to face emerging infectious disease threats.
About Bilex Pharma
Bilex Pharma is a UK-based biotechnology company dedicated to advancing human health through groundbreaking research and innovative vaccine development. Our mission is to protect communities worldwide by combating infectious diseases and emerging health threats with safe, effective, and accessible vaccines, leveraging cutting-edge platforms including mRNA, viral vectors, and advanced adjuvant systems.
About CEPI
CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) is an innovative global partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. CEPI was launched in 2017 as an outcome of a consensus that a coordinated, international, and intergovernmental plan was needed to develop and deploy new vaccines to prevent future epidemics. CEPI works with global health authorities, academia, industry, and civil society to develop vaccines against its priority diseases and enable equitable access to these vaccines through fostering capacity building in low- and middle-income countries and advocating for policy reforms.