Vaccine and biotechnology company Abera Bioscience says that CEPI has decided to extend the ongoing project that supports the development of the company’s vaccine platform BERA and influenza vaccine candidate. The extension runs until December 31 this year with an unchanged budget for the project.The extension gives Abera the opportunity to complete and analyze ongoing animal studies as well as prepare the next development phase. The work includes, among other things, scaling up and industrializing the manufacturing process ahead of toxicological studies and a future phase 1 clinical trial."That CEPI chooses to continue supporting the project is important recognition of the progress made so far and gives us good conditions to advance both the vaccine platform BERA and our influenza vaccine candidate toward clinical development," says CEO Maria Alriksson.CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) is a global organization and a partnership between governments, industry, research, and philanthropic foundations. The organization was founded in 2017 in the wake of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, with the aim of financing and accelerating the development of vaccines against unknown or known infectious diseases that can cause pandemics.