The contract includes performing studies on the vaccine that has been licensed from the Public Health Agency of Canada, to move it closer to human clinical trials.
The contract included additional funding subject to final negotiation which will be used to fund investigational new drug (IND) for pre-clinical toxicology studies and also for manufacturing of clinical materials.
NewLink Genetics chairman and CEO Charles Link said there is an urgent need for a medical countermeasure against the deadly Ebola virus.
"This Ebola vaccine has been 100% effective in preventing lethal infection when given to non-human primates before they are infected with the virus," Link said.
"The vaccine also acts rapidly enough to have significant efficacy even when given to animals that have recently received a typically lethal dose of Ebola virus."
NewLink president and chief medical officer Nicholas Vahanian said, "Advancing this vaccine into a human Phase I safety study is a major priority for NewLink and our partners, whose ongoing support will be critical for moving the project forward."
Around 900 people in the Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are claimed to have died due to this disease.