The governments of Germany, Japan, and Norway, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, recently pledged $460 million to launch the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to combat the spread of epidemics by developing effective vaccines against known infectious diseases.
The new organization, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said it hopes to shorten the time it takes to develop new vaccines to protect against viruses that emerge suddenly, such as Zika virus, by capitalizing on developments in adaptable vaccine technology and investing in facilities for quicker response.
In total, CEPI is seeking $1 billion for its first five years and is currently calling for proposals from researchers and companies to support the development of vaccines against its first target diseases.
“Epidemics threaten that future,” Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg said. “They can ruin societies on a scale on a scale only matched by wars and natural disasters. They respect no borders and don’t care if we are rich or poor. Protecting the vulnerable is protecting ourselves. This is why we all must work together to be better prepared — and why my government is fully committed to ensure that CEPI achieves its mission.”
CEPI was initially conceived as a response to the 2015 Ebola virus disease epidemic, which killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa and caused an economic loss of approximately $2.2 billion in the worst-affected countries.
CEPI has also received backing from major pharmaceutical companies, the World Health Organization, and Doctors Without Borders.