Jinka – December 8, 2025 — The Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) and Ministry of Health of Ethiopia have launched the clinical trial of the Sabin Vaccine Institute’s investigational Marburg vaccine in response to the outbreak in Ethiopia. The Ministry of Health (MoH) recently confirmed 13 cases of Marburg virus disease, including eight deaths.
Following the confirmation on 14 November 2025 that Marburg virus was responsible for the hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Ethiopia’s southern region, the MoH engaged the Sabin Vaccine Institute and the U.S. government to collaborate on deploying Sabin’s investigational cAd3-Marburg vaccine.
AHRI serves as the lead investigator for this two-cohort, Phase 2, rapid-response, open-label, randomized clinical trial designed to assess the vaccine’s safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity. The Ministry of Health of Ethiopia is the sponsor of the study.
Under the approved protocol:
- Cohort A includes high-risk healthcare and frontline workers, as well as individuals who have had direct contact with confirmed Marburg cases within the past 21 days—the known incubation period of the disease.
- Cohort B includes all other eligible healthcare and frontline workers and contacts. Participants in this cohort will be randomized to receive the vaccine either on Day 1 or Day 22 of the trial.
AHRI is working closely with Sabin’s manufacturing partner ReiThera, clinical research organization IQVIA, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)—the same consortium that supported Rwanda’s response to its 2024 Marburg outbreak.
The study has officially launched in Jinka, where the first participant has now received the vaccine. The trial is being conducted across three sites: Jinka, Wolaita Sodo, and Hawassa.