CEPI and PATH strengthen partnership to accelerate development of vaccines against diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential
Oslo, Norway; Seattle, Washington, December 14, 2023—The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and PATH today announced a renewed collaboration to accelerate the rapid development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, and in support of CEPI’s 100 Days Mission, a goal to reduce the time taken to develop safe and effective vaccines against pathogens with epidemic or pandemic potential to 100 days.
Under the terms of the CEPI-PATH Implementing Partnership Agreement, PATH will help CEPI continue to enhance its capacities for project design and management, implementation, coordination and operational oversight. In doing so, PATH will also work with CEPI partners to provide such services that enable the rapid development of vaccines against pathogens with epidemic or pandemic potential, from proof of concept through to licensure.
To this end, PATH will work across multiple CEPI-funded projects, including providing strategic, technical and scientific support for the clinical and manufacturing development process of vaccines, boosting innovative technology development, and facilitating capacity-strengthening initiatives that enhance local resources to help establish or improve research preparedness and emergency evidence generation for future outbreaks. In addition, to help ensure adequate vaccine uptake in the event of an outbreak, PATH will collaborate with CEPI to enhance support for communication and advocacy activities in low-resource communities affected by relevant pathogens.
This CEPI-PATH partnership builds upon previous successful collaborations between the two organisations, including assisting CEPI with early-stage clinical trials for a vaccine candidate against the deadly Nipah virus, providing Phase 3 oversight and contracting of clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccine development, reviewing and evaluating alternative delivery devices for vaccines, and much more.
Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer, CEPI, said, “We are delighted to strengthen our existing partnership with PATH, who have supported CEPI in various capacities, almost since our inception, from clinical trial support to vaccine manufacturing, delivery and beyond. This renewed partnership builds upon and extends our potential areas for collaboration, helping to accelerate the development of safe, effective and equitably accessible vaccines against emerging infectious diseases in support of the 100 Days Mission. In doing so, the world will be better prepared to face future viral threats by developing pandemic-busting vaccines potentially within 100 days of being alerted to the threat.”
Jessica Milman, Global Head of PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, commented, “We are excited to continue partnering with CEPI on accelerating equitable access to vaccines against future threats. We look forward to contributing to CEPI’s essential mission by leveraging our breadth of experience in vaccine development and implementation.”
About CEPI
CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil organisations, launched at Davos in 2017. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need.
CEPI has supported the development of over 30 vaccine candidates against its priority pathogens—Chikungunya virus, Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, Nipah virus, Rift Valley Fever virus and SARS-CoV-2—and is a leading funder of research into broadly protective coronavirus vaccines, which could protect against future variants of COVID-19 as well as other coronaviruses with epidemic and pandemic potential. The organization has also invested in the development of rapid response platforms to develop vaccines against Disease X (the threat of an unknown virus).
CEPI has overseen a number of scientific breakthroughs, including the first Phase 3 trial of a Chikungunya vaccine and the advancement of the first ever Nipah and Lassa vaccines into Phase 1 trials. The organization played a central role in the global response to COVID-19, supporting the development of one of the world’s largest portfolios of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, seven of which have been approved for domestic or global use. It also co-led COVAX, the global initiative to deliver fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, which has delivered approximately 2 billion doses of vaccine to 146 countries around the world.
CEPI’s five-year plan for 2022-2026 aims to dramatically reduce or even eliminate the future risk of pandemics and epidemics. Central to the plan is CEPI’s goal to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days. Achieving this ‘100 Days Mission’, which has been embraced by the G7 and G20, would give the world a fighting chance of containing a future outbreak before it can spread to become a global pandemic.
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About PATH
PATH is a global nonprofit dedicated to achieving health equity. With more than 40 years of experience forging multisector partnerships, and with expertise in science, economics, technology, advocacy, and dozens of other specialties, PATH develops and scales up innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing health challenges.
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PATH
Lindsay Bosslet, MPH
Email: media@path.org