J&J teams with Bavarian Nordic on an emergency Ebola vaccine program

Ebola virus under an electron microscope--Courtesy of CDC

The deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is pushing related vaccine and drug development efforts from first gear into overdrive. Today it's J&J's ($JNJ) turn to step up, teaming with the Danish biotech Bavarian Nordic to pair up vaccine components into a new jab with the help of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. And the pharma giant says it can start testing the new combination vaccine in a rushed clinical trial slated to start in early 2015.

Crucell, J&J's big vaccine arm, and Bavarian Nordic have each been working on a vaccine that can target the Ebola virus, which kills slightly more than half of the people it infects. Crucell has been using its AdVac vaccine platform while Bavarian Nordic uses the MVA-BN tech it's developed. In addition, J&J investigators are exploring the current range of previously tested drugs to see if any might be of use in the growing campaign to corral Ebola.

Even though Ebola has been killing people since the mid-70s, vaccine and drug development efforts were all in the very early stages of development--with one in Phase I human studies and the rest in preclinical testing--when the current outbreak began. Now, with more than 1,500 dead and signs that the epidemic is spreading fast into urban areas as cable news provides 24/7 coverage, the heat is on to get something through human studies as fast as possible. And the U.S. government has signaled its willingness to bankroll some of the most promising programs.

Just yesterday Mapp Biopharmaceuticals in San Diego picked up a government contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, better known as BARDA, that could be worth up to $42 million. Tiny Mapp found itself at the center of the sudden media storm after NIH officials provided some doses of its therapeutic to help save the lives of a handful of westerners infected with the disease. A few days ago the company reported that their drug ZMapp saved the lives of all the primate involved in the most recent study, highlighting its potential while also underscoring how little investigators know about its potential effect on humans.

Johnson & Johnson R&D chief Paul Stoffels

Other companies now involved in the development race include GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK), which is signed on with a consortium to fast-track development of its experimental vaccine. Then there's Tekmira ($TKMR), which was the furthest along with a troubled Phase I program, NewLink (which got a green light today for its Phase I vaccine study), Inovio, Sarepta, Biocryst and Immunovaccine.

"Our primary goal in this escalating Ebola epidemic is to assist governments in protecting health care workers, families and populations who are at high risk of being infected with Ebola as soon as possible in an effort to stop the disease from spreading further," said Paul Stoffels, the CSO of Johnson & Johnson.

- here's the release