A global coalition set up to fight emerging epidemics has struck a $31 million deal with scientists at the University of Tokyo to speed up work on a vaccine against a brain-damaging disease caused by the Nipah virus.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said the University of Tokyo team would receive up to $31 million to advance the development and manufacturing of a shot for the bat-borne disease.
Nipah virus was first identified in 1999 during an outbreak of illnesses affecting pig farmers and others in close contact with pigs in Malaysia and Singapore. More than 100 people died in the outbreak, and about a million pigs were killed to try to halt its spread.