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An international effort to ensure that we can develop vaccines against the next pandemic in as little as 100 days gained support and more than $1.5 billion in pledged funding during the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit in London last week.
The progress, and a goal of collecting $3.5 billion for the “100 Days Mission” was announced by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the UK Government, co-organizers of the summit.
The CEPI, the UK Government, and members of the life sciences industry issued a joint statement committing to the 100 Days Mission, which was proposed by the UK Government as part of its G7 Presidency in June 2021 and supported by G7 and G20 leaders. The mission is at the heart of CEPI’s five-year pandemic preparation strategy.
“The faster an effective vaccine is developed and deployed, the faster an incipient pandemic can be contained and controlled. In the case of COVID-19, a 100-day timeline would have seen a vaccine ready to use in mid-April instead of December 2020. This could have saved millions of lives and trillions of dollars,” according to CEPI.
BIO supports a robust vaccine ecosystem
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) looks forward to “collaborating with CEPI in their effort to fully replenish funds,” said BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath in a joint industry statement with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA)
“The COVID-19 virus has reinforced the importance of a robust and functional vaccine ecosystem. We’ve witnessed firsthand over the last two years the power of strong collaboration between academia, small and large biotech companies, regulatory officials, and manufacturing sectors—all in record time,” said Dr. McMurry-Heath, who attended the summit. “Supporting partners like CEPI, along with other NGOs, is crucial to ensuring rapid and equitable access to vaccines on every corner of the globe. We look forward to collaborating with CEPI in their effort to fully replenish funds to boost pandemic preparedness and vaccine access to save lives.”
The Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit brought together leaders from government, industry, philanthropy, academia, and civil society to galvanize action and explore what it will take for the world to develop and enable access to safe and effective vaccines against new pathogens in 100 days.
“CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017, to develop vaccines against future epidemics,” according to a CEPI press release. “Prior to COVID-19, CEPI’s work focused on developing vaccines against the Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever virus and Chikungunya virus.”
