Ebola Vaccine Regimen from Johnson & Johnson and Bavarian Nordic Supports World Health Organization in Efforts to Prevent Spread of Ebola in West Africa

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 17, 2021 – Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY) today announced that its partner Johnson & Johnson is supporting efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent further spread of Ebola in West Africa through the donation of up to 200,000 courses of the Johnson & Johnson Ebola vaccine regimen. The Johnson & Johnson Ebola vaccine regimen includes Mvabea^®, which was developed and manufactured by Bavarian Nordic. The vaccine regimens are being made available through an early access clinical program directed by the WHO and national governments, and the first doses were administered last week in Sierra Leone.

Additionally, the Johnson & Johnson Ebola vaccine regimen has received Prequalification from the WHO, which along with the July 2020 approval from the European Commission, will help accelerate its registration in countries where Ebola is a persistent public health threat and facilitate broader access to people at risk of exposure to this virus. The regimen is designed to be used proactively induce immunity against Ebola virus disease in adults and children. 

Paul Chaplin, President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic said: “We are proud to be part of the strong commitment from Johnson & Johnson in the fight against Ebola, and we continue to support these efforts through manufacturing of vaccines to meet the increasing demand. Vaccines remain the single-most important tool to protect the West African population and prevent future Ebola outbreaks, and Prequalification from WHO is an important step towards securing broader access for countries at risk.”

Further details are available in Johnson & Johnson’s press release: https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson-joins-world-health-organization-in-efforts-to-prevent-spread-of-ebola-in-west-africa

About the Johnson & Johnson Ebola vaccine regimen
The European Commission-approved Johnson & Johnson preventive Ebola vaccine regimen, Zabdeno^® (Ad26.ZEBOV) and Mvabea^® (MVA-BN-Filo), utilizes a non-replicating viral vector strategy in which viruses – in this case adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) – are genetically modified so that they cannot replicate in human cells. In addition, these vectors carry the genetic code of several Ebola virus proteins in order to trigger an immune response. Mvabea® (MVA-BN-Filo) was originally developed by Bavarian Nordic and was licensed to Janssen in 2014. Bavarian Nordic has ongoing contracts with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson to manufacture the vaccine.

The vaccine regimen was developed in a collaborative research program with the NIH and received direct funding and preclinical services from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of NIH, under Contract Numbers HHSN272200800056C, and HHSN272201000006I and HHSN272201200003I, respectively. Further funding for the Ebola vaccine regimen has been provided in part with Federal funds from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, BARDA under Contract Numbers HHSO100201700013C and HHSO100201500008C.

About Bavarian Nordic
Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated vaccines company focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of life-saving vaccines. We are a global leader in smallpox vaccines and have been a long-term supplier to the U.S. government of a non-replicating smallpox vaccine, which has been approved by the FDA under the trade name JYNNEOS^®, also for the protection against monkeypox. The vaccine is approved as a smallpox vaccine in Europe under the trade name IMVANEX^® and in Canada under the trade name IMVAMUNE^®. Our commercial product portfolio furthermore contains the market-leading vaccine Rabipur^®/RabAvert^® against rabies and Encepur^® against tick-borne encephalitis. Using our live virus vaccine platform technology, MVA-BN^®, we have created a diverse portfolio of proprietary and partnered product candidates designed to save and improve lives by unlocking the power of the immune system, including an Ebola vaccine, MVABEA^®, which is licensed to the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. We are also committed to the development of a next generation COVID-19 vaccine based on an in-licensed capsid virus-like particle technology. The vaccine candidate, ABNCoV2, is currently being investigated in clinical trials. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com.

Contacts
Europe: Rolf Sass Sørensen, Vice President Investor Relations, Tel: +45 61 77 47 43
US: Graham Morrell, Paddock Circle Advisors, graham@paddockcircle.com, Tel: +1 781 686 9600

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• 2021-05-17-en

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