CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)

Exciting news for global health innovation!   Congratulations to Sentinel on receiving the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change $100M award—a powerful endorsement of community‑led pandemic prevention.   Co‑led by Professor Christian Happi and Dr Pardis Sabeti, Sentinel builds cost‑effective pathogen detection tests, deploys real‑time outbreak‑tracking tools, and trains local scientists to mount community‑led responses—already reaching 3,000+ public health workers across 53 African countries. The Sentinel program began as a collaboration between Prof Happi’s lab and Dr Sabeti’s lab at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on #LassaFever.    We’re proud to recognise Professor Christian Happi’s contribution as a former member of CEPI’s Scientific Advisory Committee, and applaud Prof Happi’s and Dr Sabeti’s innovative engagement of the private and philanthropic sectors—from tech companies to philanthropic partners—to scale this work.   This achievement shows what’s possible when science, collaboration, and cross‑sector partnership come together to protect us all. Learn more about the Sentinel project here: https://lnkd.in/g9Hbnjri Read more about the award here: https://lnkd.in/edF3eifY 

Join OOASWAHO || West African Health Organization, CEPI and partners for a webinar publicly launching two key resources to strengthen the evidence base for future Lassa fever vaccines: the Prioritised Research Agenda for Advancing Lassa Fever Vaccine Policy and Decision-Making and the new open-access Lassa Fever Research Repository. As Lassa fever vaccine candidates move toward late-stage trials, these tools will help policymakers, funders, and researchers focus on the data needed for timely, equitable vaccine introduction across West Africa, where the disease is endemic. CEPI’s Oyeronke Oyebanji, Head of Lassa Engagement, will moderate the high-level webinar, featuring expert presentations, a live demo of the Repository, and an interactive Q&A. 📅 25 November 2025 🕛 12:00 GMT 🔗 Register: https://lnkd.in/eP3J-V-m

A new CEPI-funded initiative seeks to address a major hurdle in vaccine manufacturing: the slow, complex process of potency testing. These assays are vital for confirming a vaccine’s ability to trigger an immune response and often rely on time-consuming cell culture and reagent-based methods that can delay development and release by days or even weeks.   With up to $195,811 in CEPI support, LumaCyte is partnering with IDT Biologika to deploy its Radiance® instrument and advance a reagent-free potency assay using Laser Force Cytology™ (LFC). This novel label-free technology detects subtle cellular changes from viral infection or gene expression, eliminating the need for reagents and lengthy endpoint assays. By delivering rapid, high-resolution, and reproducible data, the approach not only accelerates vaccine release but also enhances quality assurance and safety across important development and manufacturing workflows.   By enabling faster, more precise, and scalable potency measurements, this innovation supports the 100 Days Mission—reducing costs, simplifying supply chains, and strengthening global readiness for future outbreaks.

The Regionalized Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC) has released its first Status Report - a major step toward building sustainable, regionally-led vaccine manufacturing across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Co-founded by CEPI, WEF, US NAM and other partners, RVMC aims to strengthen regional manufacturing and supply chains so that every region can access vaccines quickly and equitably in future outbreaks, helping to overcome a major barrier to access during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report provides the first comprehensive baseline for progress across RVMC’s eight pillars, from financing and regulation to technology and demand. It highlights both momentum and remaining gaps in regionalised manufacturing: 🔵 Regional manufacturers supply only 29% of ASEAN, 25% of LAC, and 1% of Africa’s vaccine needs 🔵 Limited regulatory alignment continues to constrain cross-border supply 🔵 Technology access and innovation capacity remain uneven across regions As Dr Frederik Kristensen, Managing Director of the CEPI-hosted RVMC Secretariat, notes, progress is real, but greater coordination is needed to turn commitment into fully funded, regionally led action. Strengthening regionalised vaccine manufacturing is central to CEPI’s mission to ensure equitable access to vaccines, and we will continue to work with partners like RVMC to achieve this ambition. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e6QnZhwj Read full report: https://lnkd.in/ebFKc5Aq

It was a pleasure to join Michael Anderson CB from MedAccess to talk about a topic that has been the subject of so much of my work: market shaping.  Over my career, from GSK, to Gavi and now at CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), I’ve seen how deliberate market interventions can unlock equitable access, strengthen supply, and help ensure vaccines are available widely, reliably and affordably.  None of this is achieved by one organisation alone. It requires partnership, persistence, and creating deep alignment between public health needs and market incentives. In the interview, we explored how the discipline of market shaping was built, what makes a vaccine market functional, resilient, and equitable, the learnings from getting COVID-19 vaccines to emerging economies, a family story and plenty more.  Watch in full at this link: https://lnkd.in/eADMFJ_m  

Last week, CEPI was honoured to witness the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD launch the African Medicines Agency (AMA) in Mombasa during the Scientific Conference on Medicines Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA). The establishment of AMA marks a pivotal advance for the continent -- strengthening regulatory systems, accelerating access to medical countermeasures, and reinforcing outbreak preparedness. As part of the conference, CEPI co-hosted a tabletop exercise simulating the regulatory response to an emerging infectious disease. The session, facilitated by Jochen Auerbach and Jacqueline Acquah, brought together National Regulatory Authorities, regional bodies, and continental partners to test how collaboration and decision-making unfold during a public health emergency. Opening remarks were delivered by Adam Hacker (CEPI), Nancy Ngum (AUDA-NEPAD), and Anthony Martin Toroitich (Pharmacy and Poisons Board). The exercise offered a valuable opportunity to: 🔵 Assess current mechanisms for coordination and information-sharing among regulatory partners during outbreaks. 🔵 Support countries in reflecting on their regulatory emergency procedures. 🔵 Enhance approaches for benefit–risk assessment to inform emergency licensure pathways and guide rapid vaccine deployment. One of the key themes that emerged was the importance of coordinated, harmonised emergency pathways - linking AMA, regional bodies, and National Regulatory Authorities - supported by digital tools, strengthened capacity, and real-time safety data to speed evidence-based decisions and avoid duplication. CEPI remains committed to working with African partners, including the newly launched AMA, and global stakeholders to enhance regulatory agility and ensure equitable access to vaccines when the next outbreak strikes.

Chair of CEPI Board, Professor Jane Halton, and CEPI Deputy CEO, Aurélia Nguyen, recently had the chance to represent CEPI on a visit to Japan, engaging with government and industry partners to advance our shared mission of protecting people from future epidemic and pandemic threats. Since 2017, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has been a steadfast supporter of CEPI, and these meetings provided an important opportunity to connect in person and strengthen those relationships, as well as highlight the efforts of Japanese partners in contributing to our work. Highlights included: 🔵 Briefing multiple ministries and R&D organisations to explore continued collaboration and investment in pandemic preparedness. 🔵 Reinforcing our alignment with SCARDA, with whom CEPI has collaborated since June 2023 through a formal MOU to enhance global pandemic preparedness and response 🔵 Hosting a breakfast seminar with parliamentarians from various parties to deepen connections to and understanding of CEPI’s achievements and mission. It was also a pleasure to meet with Mr. Shiozaki-san, CEPI’s first Global Goodwill Ambassador, who was instrumental in helping arrange these vital meetings. These discussions highlighted the strong connections between CEPI and Japanese partners and set the stage for continued collaboration to advance innovation, preparedness, and global health security.

📢 New CEPI-funded project aims to cut vaccine sterility testing times from weeks to less than a day. Sterility testing - verifying that vaccine batches are free from microbial contamination - is one of the most time-consuming steps in vaccine release, often taking up to a month. With CEPI funding of up to $199,238, USA-based CBio will develop a rapid sterility testing system based on its cellPhoresis™ technology, employing a lab technique that uses an electric field to move or separate particles and detect contamination in under 24 hours. Low-cost consumables, minimal training requirements, and remote support are designed to make this technology accessible globally, including in low-resource settings. By reducing testing time from weeks to hours, this innovation could accelerate vaccine release, enhance quality control, and strengthen equitable access worldwide - advancing CEPI’s goal of developing vaccines at speed in support of the 100 Days Mission.

The OOASWAHO || West African Health Organization (WAHO), with support from CEPI and other partners, have launched the first-ever Lassa Fever Vaccine Policy Research Agenda. Developed through a WAHO-led regional working group—including representatives from West African governments, WHO, Africa CDC, Gavi, CEPI, academia, and civil society—the Agenda identifies the most pressing policy and implementation priorities to ensure that Lassa vaccines, once developed, can be rapidly and equitably deployed across West Africa. Over the past year, the group consulted policymakers, researchers, and public health institutions across endemic and at-risk countries and globally to define a shared, evidence-informed roadmap for future research, policy, and investment. Oyeronke Oyebanji, CEPI’s Head of Lassa Engagement, explains what this milestone means: “This Agenda bridges science and policy to help governments and funders focus their investments on the evidence that matters most for future Lassa fever vaccine introduction. It will support stronger decision-making and ensure that, when Lassa fever vaccines are licensed, countries across West Africa can introduce them efficiently and equitably”. Lassa fever is a severe viral illness affecting hundreds of thousands of people across West Africa each year. CEPI is one of the world’s leading funders of Lassa fever research, working with partners in West Africa and across the world to advance the development of a protective vaccine. 🔗 Learn more about the Lassa Fever Vaccine Policy Research Agenda: https://lnkd.in/ePgc-CvU

The world remains dangerously underprepared for future pandemics. A new report from the G20 High Level Independent Panel – co-chaired by CEPI Board Chair, Hon. Professor Jane Halton – warns that urgent action is needed to close critical financing gaps and strengthen protection against growing biological threats. Advances in science and technology have given us tools to prevent and contain epidemics and pandemics that previous generations could only have imagined. Yet without sustained and sufficient investment, the global community will remain vulnerable to the devastating health, economic, and security impacts of future pandemics. CEPI welcomes the Panel’s call for increased domestic investment and non-ODA financing for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Infectious disease threats—whether natural, accidental, or deliberate—endanger our collective health, prosperity and security, so it is both fair and necessary that the financial burden of protection is shared across sectors, including security and defence. CEPI supports the Panel’s recommendations to accelerate geographically diversified access to medical countermeasures. Establishing surge funding facilities for rapid manufacturing scale-up and at-risk financing for low- and middle-income countries to procure medical countermeasures will be vital to avoid perpetuating the inequities that hindered the global COVID-19 response. CEPI also endorses the emphasis on regular simulation exercises to ensure that systems and relationships are agile and ready to respond. CEPI looks forward to working with the High Level Independent Panel, the Joint Finance and Health Task Force, G20 members, and global partners to help advance these recommendations and strengthen collective pandemic resilience. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/eMQRi3fX