Emergent BioSolutions, PANTHER Partner to Advance Africa CDC-Led MpOx Study
January 9, 2026
The Africa CDC-led MOSA trial marks a necessary shift from emergency response to evidence-based mpox treatment. With more than 61,000 confirmed cases across Africa and no dedicated antiviral therapy, platform-adaptive trials like MOSA are overdue. The collaboration between Emergent BioSolutions, PANTHER, and Africa CDC demonstrates how global financing can align with regional leadership without displacing African scientific authority. Sustained support must now follow the data, ensuring expansion, transparency, and rapid translation of findings into access where mpox burden remains highest.
The continuation of the Africa CDC-led MOSA trial represents a pivotal moment for mpox response that prioritizes scientific rigor, regional leadership, and preparedness over reactive crisis management. Despite tens of thousands of confirmed cases and persistent mortality across the continent, mpox still lacks a dedicated antiviral therapy. MOSA directly confronts this gap through a double-blind, platform-adaptive design capable of generating actionable clinical evidence in outbreak settings.
The decision by Emergent BioSolutions to provide additional financial support, alongside PANTHER and Africa CDC, reflects a partnership model that respects African ownership of both data and direction. Early DSMB findings indicating no safety concerns after initial enrollment strengthen the scientific credibility of the trial and justify geographic expansion, including into Uganda.
Beyond any single investigational product, MOSA’s broader value lies in its ability to capture the clinical diversity of mpox across Africa, where both major clades and emerging subclades circulate. Evidence generated in endemic contexts is essential for treatment strategies that are clinically valid rather than extrapolated from non-endemic outbreaks.
To be sure, positive interim signals do not guarantee equitable access once efficacy is demonstrated. Regulatory coordination, manufacturing readiness, and advance procurement planning must follow swiftly. Still, MOSA signals a necessary rebalancing of global health research by positioning Africa not only as the site of outbreaks, but as the source of the evidence that guides the global response.