the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust each donate $150 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), the international vaccine alliance that promotes the development of vaccines against pathogens with pandemic potential.
Almost exactly five years ago, Cepi was founded at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The global partnership was created by the governments of Norway and India, the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust Foundation and the World Economic Forum. Germany is also a founding member and one of the main investors. Cepi is committed to the containment of epidemics around the world. The focus is on research and development.
With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cepi Portfolio of Covid-19 vaccine candidates established – 14 in total, six of which continue to be funded and three of which have been classified as emergency vaccines by the World Health Organization (WHO). For example, Cepi has been involved in the development of the Covid-19 vaccine Astrazeneca invested. This is known to be used worldwide to contain the pandemic.
Also the vaccine from Novavax, which has been classified as an emergency vaccine by the World Health Organization (WHO), was largely funded by Cepi. More than a billion doses of the Novavax vaccine are now available to “Covax”, the global initiative led by Cepi, which works to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. German companies like Curevac have also benefited from Cepi funding. However, the Tübingen-based company has so far not been successful in developing a vaccine. Meanwhile, Cepi is working on next-generation vaccines, designed to protect against all coronaviruses to reduce the risk of future pandemics.
Bill Gates: Saving lives with Cepi
“While the world meets the challenge of a rapidly evolving Virus responding, the need to provide new, life-saving tools has never been more urgent,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, last night. Early investments in research and development could save lives and prevent worst-case scenarios. The Gates Foundation supports Cepi to accelerate the development of safe and effective vaccines against emerging variants of the coronavirus, to help prepare for, and possibly even prevent, a next pandemic. But he also made it clear that “the glass is only half full”. Because in addition to the current Covid 19 pandemic, there is a risk of future pandemics. And also against other infectious diseases such as HIV or Malaria there is no reliable vaccine yet. Cepi also supports this at this point research.
Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust also urges to be better prepared in the future. As is well known, the efforts of the past few years have not been sufficient to prevent the current pandemic. He called for structures to be created before a pandemic breaks out and for rapid action to be taken on the basis of scientific knowledge. Cepi works tirelessly on it. The mistakes of the Covid-19 pandemic must not be repeated. “The impact of Covid-19 has been sobering. We appeal to the heads of state and government“To support Cepi and ensure the funding goal is met,” he said. “It is in the collective interest of the world to avoid repeating mistakes and help future generations prevent epidemics.” Cepi one Library of vaccine candidates to accelerate vaccine development. In addition, according to Cepi, it shortens the time it takes to develop vaccines 100 days, after a pathogen has been sequenced.
More fair distribution
Latest data from Northeastern University show that 70 percent of previous Covid-19 deaths could have been prevented if vaccine availability in low-income countries like Kenya had matched that in high-income countries like the UK or US. Cepi is therefore also committed to the equitable distribution of vaccines ein. I took-CEO Richard Hatchett primarily called for more vaccine production in lower-income countries. However, structures could now have been set up that will be used in future pandemics, he said. Cepi board member Cherry Gagandeep Kang sees an opportunity in the mistakes of the past. With the corona pandemic, for the first time, a large-scale Vaccination campaign for adults happened. Now it is time to think about which infectious diseases adults could still be vaccinated against on a large scale. As an example, she cites the flu as a possible pandemic scenario.
On March 8th there will be one in Great Britain donor conference take place. Cepi then wants to reach the funding goal of $3.5 billion. Germany is also called upon to support the vaccine alliance again.
