ProBioGen
Berlin biotechnology company owned by Minapharm.
ProBioGen will make the active ingredient of an MVA-vectored Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine in Berlin after CEPI awarded up to $16.5m to the company and its Egyptian parent, Minapharm, on 27 August 2026.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for ProBioGen
Received funding to make the drug substance
Pandemics and Biosecurity: CEPI awards Minapharm US$16.5m for EbolaBackground
ProBioGen is a biotechnology company in Berlin, owned by Egypt's Minapharm. It supplies the German half of Minapharm's Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine programme, which CEPI funded in August 2026.
The split between Berlin and Cairo follows from where Africa's vaccine-making gap lies. As of 2026 the continent's main shortfall is drug substance, the active ingredient, rather than filling and finishing doses. ProBioGen makes the drug substance until a planned technology transfer lets Cairo produce the whole vaccine.
The programme's case rests on supply security for the next Bundibugyo outbreak more than on speed in the current one. Africa CDC's Jean Kaseya called an African-made candidate exactly the kind of capability the continent needs.
ProBioGen will make the vaccine's active ingredient
On 27 August 2026 CEPI awarded up to $16.5m to ProBioGen and Minapharm to take an MVA-vectored Bundibugyo vaccine into a Phase 1 trial in Africa. The MVA vector uses a weakened pox virus to carry Bundibugyo proteins. CEPI called it its fifth Bundibugyo-specific candidate, and the only one designed to raise both antibody and T-cell responses.
ProBioGen's part is the drug substance, made in Berlin, while Minapharm finishes doses in Cairo. A planned technology transfer would move full manufacture to Cairo. The candidate starts behind its rivals: Moderna dosed its first volunteer in Canada on 3 August, and Oxford's vaccine entered trials in July.
Who owns ProBioGen?
What is ProBioGen's role in the Bundibugyo vaccine?
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