Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
CEPI is an international vaccine development partnership founded in 2017 that addresses market failures in pandemic preparedness by funding vaccines for diseases with limited commercial viability. While achieving notable success during COVID-19, the organization faces ongoing criticism for weakening equitable access policies under pharmaceutical industry pressure and maintaining insufficient transparency in its agreements.
Quick Assessment
| Dimension | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Type | International vaccine development partnership |
| Founded | 2017 (conceived 2015) |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway |
| Mission | Accelerate vaccine development for epidemic/pandemic threats within 100 days |
| Funding Raised | $760 million+ (as of February 2020) |
| Key Achievement | Supported 8 authorized COVID-19 vaccines |
| Primary Focus | Priority pathogens (MERS, Lassa, Nipah, Ebola, Marburg, Zika) and Disease X |
| Major Challenge | Balancing pharmaceutical partnerships with equitable access commitments |
Key Links
| Source | Link |
|---|---|
| Official Website | cepi.net |
| Wikipedia | en.wikipedia.org |
| World Bank Trustee | fiftrustee.worldbank.org |
Overview
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is a global partnership established to finance and coordinate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases with pandemic potential.1 Launched in January 2017 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the organization addresses a critical market failure: many dangerous pathogens offer insufficient economic incentives for pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines, requiring public funding to ensure preparedness.2
CEPI's work focuses on diseases that disproportionately affect low-income countries and lack commercial markets, including MERS-CoV, Lassa virus, Nipah virus, Ebola, Marburg fever, and Zika. The organization also develops rapid-response vaccine platforms for "Disease X"—unknown pathogens that could cause future pandemics.3 During the COVID-19 pandemic, CEPI became a key partner in COVAX alongside WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi, leveraging pre-pandemic investments to accelerate vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries.4
The organization's current strategic priority is the 100 Days Mission: developing vaccines against unknown pathogens within 100 days of identification. This ambitious goal, endorsed by G7 and G20 leaders, relies on advancing platform technologies and building prototype vaccine libraries that can be rapidly adapted to emerging threats.5
History
Conception and Founding
CEPI was conceived in response to the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic, which exposed critical gaps in global vaccine development infrastructure.6 The epidemic killed over 11,000 people and cost $53 billion, yet a 100% efficacious vaccine arrived too late to prevent the outbreak.7 Four independent expert reports on the Ebola response called for a new system to stimulate vaccine development against epidemic threats.8
The concept was formally outlined in July 2015 in The New England Journal of Medicine in a paper titled "Establishing a Global Vaccine-Development Fund," co-authored by Jeremy Farrar (director of Wellcome Trust), Stanley A. Plotkin (co-discoverer of the Rubella vaccine), and Adel Mahmoud (developer of the HPV and rotavirus vaccines).9 Between February and June 2016, task teams convened to define sustainable solutions, comprising 200 thought leaders and experts from more than 80 organizations.10
CEPI was formally established in August 2016 as an international non-profit association under Norwegian law, founded by the governments of India and Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.11 The organization launched publicly in January 2017 at the World Economic Forum in Davos with an initial investment of $460 million from the governments of Germany, Japan, and Norway, plus the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.12
Evolution and Expansion
The European Union joined CEPI as a funding partner in 2019, followed by the United Kingdom in 2020.13 By February 2020, CEPI had raised a total of $760 million and mobilized more than $750 million to support vaccine development against priority pathogens.14
Although not originally designed as a public health emergency response organization, CEPI became an equal partner with WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi in forming COVAX during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization leveraged its pre-pandemic vaccine development investments to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries.15 CEPI's COVID-19 portfolio ultimately supported the development of 8 authorized vaccines.16
In March 2021, CEPI launched a $3.5 billion five-year plan focused on preparing for future pandemics through three pillars: prepare, transform, and connect.17 This plan included a $200 million call for SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific vaccines, linking surveillance systems to vaccine development decisions.18
Mission and Approach
Core Strategy
CEPI's mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they are accessible to all people in need.19 The organization addresses market failures by funding vaccines for diseases that offer little commercial return but pose significant public health risks. By ensuring that price is never a barrier to access, CEPI focuses particularly on diseases affecting low-income countries disproportionately.20
The organization operates through two primary focus areas:
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Vaccine Platform Innovations: Funding platforms for rapid Disease X response, building preclinical, chemistry/manufacturing/controls (CMC), clinical, and regulatory expertise for outbreak speed and accessibility.21
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Priority Pathogen Candidates: Advancing vaccines for high-risk pathogens and viral families, including exemplar vaccines against prototype pathogens.22
The 100 Days Mission
CEPI's 2022-2026 strategic plan, known as CEPI 2.0, prioritizes the 100 Days Mission—developing vaccines against unknown pathogens within 100 days of identification.23 This goal involves:
- Building prototype vaccine libraries for viral families (e.g., Paramyxoviridae, Flaviviridae, Togaviridae, Filoviridae, Bunyaviridae, Arenaviridae, Picornaviridae) pre-tested in Phase 1 trials for rapid adaptation24
- Using AI for viral modeling and earlier immune response biomarkers25
- Establishing innovative trial networks and regulatory pathways26
A 2025 cross-sectional survey of 85 vaccinology and public health experts (73.2% response rate) identified vaccine libraries, surveillance, and trial networks as key priorities for achieving this goal. However, experts from low- and middle-income countries were more confident in success than those from high-income countries, suggesting differing perspectives on implementation feasibility.27
Partnership Structure
CEPI operates as a partnership of public, private, philanthropic, and civil organizations, bringing together governments, industry, academia, intergovernmental institutions like WHO, and civil society.28 The organization coordinates research activities, pairs small R&D firms with manufacturers, streamlines regulatory approvals, and manages patent issues.29
The organization's scientific advisory committee includes executives from major pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Takeda Pharmaceutical, advising on strategic partnerships and development pathways.30
Key Achievements
COVID-19 Response
CEPI's pre-pandemic platform investments enabled a rapid SARS-CoV-2 response. The organization invested $4.4 million in March 2020 to support Novavax and the University of Oxford, eventually scaling to over $100 million in COVID-19 projects.31 Notable partnerships included:
- University of Oxford and AstraZeneca: Supporting the ChAdOx1 platform (previously used for MERS, Lassa, Nipah), with equitable access provisions including Joint Monitoring Committees (JMAGs), stage gates, public health licenses, and dispute resolution mechanisms.32
- Next-generation vaccine candidates: Supporting development of multi-variant vaccines and improved formulations.33
CEPI was the only public funder systematically leveraging investments for equitable access, securing first right of refusal for COVAX to access hundreds of millions of doses amid global shortages.34 COVAX achieved the fastest vaccine deployment ever, with modeling suggesting it averted an estimated 2.7 million deaths by end-2022.35
Priority Pathogen Programs
CEPI has initiated significant vaccine development programs for diseases lacking commercial markets:
- Lassa Fever: Funded multiple vaccine candidates with the first volunteer dosed in Oxford trials; West African Ministers of Health pledged joint commitment to advance Lassa fever vaccines on September 8, 2025.36
- Chikungunya: Supported development of the first authorized vaccine against Chikungunya.37
- Rift Valley Fever: Created the largest-ever reserve of investigational Rift Valley fever vaccine in partnership with Oxford and Serum Institute.38
- Pancoronavirus Vaccine: Invested approximately $65 million in GBP511 for protection against future coronavirus pandemics.39
- Multivalent Filovirus Vaccines: Backing new research for vaccines protecting against multiple deadly filoviruses.40
Expanded Infrastructure
In 2024-2025, CEPI significantly expanded its global infrastructure:
- The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) joined CEPI's Centralised Laboratory Network in 2025, marking the first Korean labs in a network of 20 across continents for standardized vaccine evaluation.41
- Samsung Biologics joined the Vaccine Manufacturing and Filling Network (VMFN) to supply up to 50 million doses in a pandemic, strengthening outbreak-ready vaccine production capacity.42
- Partnership with the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF) to boost clinical trial application reviews in Africa.43
Governance and Funding
Funding Sources
CEPI is funded by a diverse coalition of public and philanthropic sources. Initial founding partners contributed $460 million, with funding expanding to $760 million by February 2020.44 Major funders include:
- Governments: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, United Kingdom, European Commission
- Philanthropic Organizations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust
- Recent Commitments: Korea invested $18.9 million in CEPI; Germany provided $150 million for CEPI's core portfolio and $430 million for its COVID-19 portfolio, with plans to provide an additional $40 million through 2026.45
The organization launched a $3.5 billion five-year plan in March 2021 to address future pandemic threats.46
Leadership
Richard Hatchett serves as CEPI's Chief Executive Officer.47 Dr. Kent Kester serves as Executive Director of Vaccine R&D.48 The organization maintains a scientific advisory committee with representation from major pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions.
Criticisms and Controversies
Equitable Access Policy Weakening
CEPI faced significant criticism in 2018 over policy changes regarding intellectual property and equitable access. Originally, CEPI required vaccine developers to grant access to technology and waive substantial profits or proprietary rights for publicly funded research. After pharmaceutical companies including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Takeda objected, these provisions were removed once funding was secured.49
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly criticized this reversal for undermining transparency and equity, accusing CEPI of not following its own policies and removing board review of contracts.50 The New York Times characterized CEPI's initial push for pharma partnerships without profits or IP rights as a "failed effort," with the organization replacing specific measures with vague commitments to affordability and availability.51
CEPI defended the policy revision by arguing the original approach was idealistic but not pragmatic for business realities, noting that some manufacturers refused to participate otherwise. The organization maintained it retained rights to repurpose IP or switch manufacturers with consent.52
Transparency and Accountability
CEPI has been criticized for keeping the terms of its grant agreements with vaccine developers confidential, preventing public accountability.53 Inger Berg Ørstavik, a law professor specializing in patent licensing, stated that "without more openness, neither CEPI nor the vaccine manufacturers the organisation funds can be held accountable" and expressed surprise at CEPI's reliance on "individually negotiated secret agreements."54
Structural Limitations in Leverage
Despite holding significant contractual rights, CEPI experienced substantial limitations in exercising leverage against vaccine manufacturers during the COVID-19 pandemic.55 The organization could not effectively coerce companies to make meaningful concessions on pricing and equitable access commitments, particularly during early development stages when leverage was theoretically greatest.56
CEPI's structure separates research funding from price negotiations, with pricing addressed downstream by partners like Gavi rather than during early-stage development. Critics argue this creates a fundamental flaw, as one expert noted: "in a pandemic situation, where high-income countries are not particularly price sensitive and are willing to pay pretty much anything just to get access to these vaccines, Gavi has very little power to negotiate with companies."57
COVAX Shortcomings
While CEPI itself was not solely responsible, the broader COVAX vaccine allocation system faced significant structural weaknesses. COVAX aimed to distribute 2 billion doses by end-2021 but shipped only 1.1 billion by January 15, 2022, and 1.72 billion by September 15, 2022.58 Key issues included:
- Few wealthy governments procuring through COVAX; self-financing governments bypassed it, redirecting billions of doses
- Approximately 85% of administered doses went to high-income and upper-middle-income countries59
- CEPI's agreements had "rights of first refusal" for epidemics, but leverage over national governments was limited60
Manufacturing and Data Sharing Gaps
CEPI's governance and funding decisions have been criticized for prioritizing high-income country interests over equitable global manufacturing.61 The organization did little to support vaccine manufacturing capacity in low- and middle-income countries, instead supporting the status quo that concentrates production in wealthy nations.62 Additionally, CEPI failed to leverage its influence to ensure technology transfer—for example, it did not require CureVac to share its mRNA technology despite supporting the mRNA Hub's equitable access goals.63
CEPI also did not require vaccine developers to publish results in open-access journals or participate in comparative analyses of their products, limiting the broader scientific community's ability to benefit from publicly funded research.64
Recent Developments
2024-2025 Initiatives
CEPI has launched several major initiatives:
- Biosecurity Policy: Published its first Biosecurity Policy for oversight of safe research practices.65
- Prototype Pathogen Research: CEPI and WHO promoted using prototype pathogens as "pathfinders" to build knowledge for entire pathogen families at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, coordinating research through Collaborative Open Research Consortium (CORC) hubs.66
- Analytical Technologies Funding: Announced funding for innovative analytical technologies to reduce vaccine development times and costs while improving equity in low- and middle-income countries.67
- AI Integration: Launched a global AI platform for pandemic preparedness, creating a new collaboration using AI and expert networks for pandemic spotting.68
Recent Vaccine Progress
- Mpox: New vaccine study launching in outbreak-affected Democratic Republic of Congo with focus on equitable access.69
- Zaire Ebolavirus: Backing updated vaccine for improved affordability and accessibility.70
- Pandemic Agreement: Adoption of a pandemic agreement following three years of negotiations (finalized around late 2024/early 2025), addressing COVID-19 inequities with next steps on Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system.71
Key Uncertainties
Key Questions
- ?Can the 100 Days Mission be achieved given current technological and regulatory constraints, or are expert projections overly optimistic?
- ?How can CEPI balance the need for pharmaceutical company participation with meaningful equitable access commitments that preserve public value?
- ?Will prototype vaccine libraries prove effective for rapid adaptation to novel pathogens, or will each new threat require substantial additional development time?
- ?Can CEPI effectively address manufacturing capacity gaps in low- and middle-income countries given funding constraints and geopolitical pressures favoring high-income country production?
- ?What governance reforms would enable CEPI to exercise greater leverage over vaccine manufacturers while maintaining industry participation?
Sources
Footnotes
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References
1BMFTR - Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovationsgesundheitsforschung-bmftr.de·Redaktion: BMFTR LS5 Internetredaktion▸
This page from the German Federal Ministry for Research provides an overview of CEPI, an international alliance founded in 2017 to finance and coordinate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases. CEPI aims to accelerate vaccine development to counter epidemic threats before they become pandemics. The page outlines Germany's involvement and funding contributions to this global health security initiative.
“CEPI is an international initiative to finance and coordinate the development of new vaccines against pathogens with high pandemic potential.”
The source does not mention that CEPI was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Since its foundation in 2017, CEPI has supported the development of 8 authorized COVID-19 vaccines, as well as the first ever authorized vaccine against Chikungunya.”
The source does not mention CEPI leveraging pre-pandemic vaccine development investments to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries. The source states that CEPI has supported the development of 8 authorized COVID-19 vaccines, not that its COVID-19 portfolio supported the development of 8 authorized vaccines.
“CEPI brings together governments, industry, academia, philanthropy, intergovernmental institutions, such as the World Health Organization, and civil society.”
The source does not mention CEPI coordinating research activities, pairing small R&D firms with manufacturers, streamlining regulatory approvals, or managing patent issues.
This report from People's Medicines critiques the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) for failing to embed meaningful equitable access provisions in its vaccine R&D funding mechanisms. It argues that CEPI's access policies and governance structures are inadequate to ensure that vaccines developed with public funding reach populations in low- and middle-income countries during health emergencies. The authors propose concrete reforms to CEPI's policy framework and governance to better serve global health equity.
3PMC - Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the Partnerships of Equitable Vaccine AccessPubMed Central (peer-reviewed)·Paper▸
This paper examines CEPI's role in coordinating global vaccine development and equitable distribution partnerships, analyzing how international coalitions address gaps in pandemic preparedness. It evaluates the structural and governance mechanisms that enable or hinder equitable access to vaccines across high- and low-income countries.
“Formed after the West Africa Ebola public health emergency, CEPI, nominally a Norwegian non-profit association but functioning as a much more significant international organization, was established in 2017 to support the research and development of the next generation of vaccines to address WHO Blueprint diseases — those prioritized for research and development because they pose the greatest public health risk due to their epidemic potential and/or the lack or insufficiency of countermeasures.”
The source states CEPI was established in 2017, not August 2016. The source does not mention India as one of the founding governments. The source does not specify that the initial investment was launched publicly in January 2017 at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The source does not mention Germany or Japan as initial investors.
“While focusing in its first three years on WHO Blueprint diseases for which a commercial market was unlikely to develop, CEPI’s investments in the vaccine research and development before COVID-19 were critical to LMIC’s access to COVID-19 vaccines over the course of the pandemic.”
The source does not explicitly state that CEPI's COVID-19 portfolio supported the development of '8 authorized vaccines.' It mentions support for multiple vaccine candidates and platforms, but the exact number of authorized vaccines is not specified.
“These countervailing movements materialized as a partnership between international organizations that excelled in supporting national planning for vaccine rollout (the World Health Organization and UNICEF); financing vaccine procurement (Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance) 5 ; and supporting COVID-19 vaccine candidates (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)).”
This is the mid-term review of CEPI 2.0 (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), assessing progress toward its strategic goals of developing vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats within 100 days. The review evaluates organizational effectiveness, funding use, and scientific progress in pandemic preparedness infrastructure. It includes a management response outlining how CEPI plans to address identified gaps and recommendations.
CEPI Technical Resources (cepi-tr.tghn.org) is a platform hosted by the Global Health Network providing technical documentation, guidelines, and resources related to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). It supports vaccine development and epidemic preparedness efforts by offering standardized protocols and tools for researchers and developers working on emerging infectious disease countermeasures.
“CEPI has announced a funding opportunity to develop innovative analytical technologies for vaccines. The goal is to reduce vaccine development, manufacturing, and release times; lower costs, improve equitable deployment in Low to Middle-Income Countries, and enhance analytical insights for vaccines.”
This Frontiers in Public Health article presents findings from an expert survey evaluating the feasibility and priorities of the '100 Days Mission'—a global health security initiative aiming to develop vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics within 100 days of a pandemic threat being identified. The survey captures expert consensus on key bottlenecks, governance challenges, and technical requirements for achieving this ambitious timeline. It provides structured insights into international coordination and preparedness infrastructure needs.
“Among the LMIC experts, 51.9% (14/27) believed that the Mission would succeed, while 18.5% (5/27) stated that it would fail. In contrast, confidence among the HIC experts was much lower, with only 26.3% (15/57) believing in its success and 57.9% (33/57) anticipating failure.”
This paper examines partnership models in vaccine development, analyzing how public and private sector entities collaborate to accelerate the development and deployment of vaccines. It explores coordination mechanisms, funding structures, and governance frameworks that enable successful vaccine research and production at scale.
“Two years into operation, CEPI has already secured more than $750 million to support its mission, through the contributions of 7 government donors, the European Commission, and 2 philanthropic organizations.”
The claim that the UK joined CEPI as a funding partner in 2020 is not supported by the text. The claim that CEPI had raised a total of $760 million by February 2020 is not supported by the text. The text states that CEPI had secured more than $750 million as of September 2019.
CEPI launched at Davos in January 2017 as a global partnership to develop vaccines for emerging infectious diseases before outbreaks occur, with $460 million in initial funding. The organization targets MERS-CoV, Lassa, and Nipah viruses initially, aiming to develop two vaccine candidates per disease proactively. CEPI represents an institutional model for proactive risk mitigation through coordinated public-private funding.
“CEPI is a direct response to calls from four independent expert reports into the Ebola epidemic for a new system for stimulating the development of vaccines against epidemic threats.”
The source does not mention the Ebola epidemic costing $53 billion. The source does not state that a 100% efficacious vaccine arrived too late to prevent the outbreak. It only mentions that Ebola and Zika showed that the world is tragically unprepared to detect local outbreaks and respond quickly enough to prevent them from becoming global pandemics.
This resource appears to have been a page about CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) funding or research opportunities, but the page no longer exists and returns a 404 error. No substantive content is available for analysis.
“Through proposals awarded under this Focus Area, CEPI aims to build significant preclinical, chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC), clinical, and regulatory expertise with vaccine platforms that could be leveraged for rapid adoption in an outbreak and made accessible to all populations that need them.”
“The objective for Focus Area 2 is to advance new vaccine candidates for CEPI priority pathogens and viral families, aligned with CEPI’s strategic objectives to accelerate development of vaccines against known high-risk pathogens and to build a library of exemplar vaccines against prototype viruses from high-risk viral families to give a head-start on novel threats (Disease X).”
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) has joined CEPI's Global Vaccine Testing Network (GVTN), a collaboration aimed at strengthening pandemic preparedness by expanding vaccine trial capacity across diverse geographic regions. This partnership supports rapid response to future epidemic and pandemic threats by enabling coordinated clinical testing infrastructure.
“The laboratories at IVI’s headquarters in Seoul and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) are the first in Korea to join the network, which now includes 20 labs across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and Europe.”
CEPI outlines its commitment to equitable access to epidemic and pandemic vaccines, ensuring products reach at-risk populations—especially in the Global South—regardless of ability to pay. The framework supports the 100 Days Mission goal of delivering effective vaccines within 100 days of a threat emerging anywhere in the world. CEPI pursues equity through direct financial investments, partnerships, and indirect advocacy for systemic reform of global health security infrastructure.
“CEPI was the only public sector funder of R&D which systematically leveraged its investments to enable equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Crucially, CEPI’s investments secured first right of refusal for the COVAX Facility to access hundreds of millions of doses of multiple vaccines at a time when global demand vastly outstripped supply. COVAX shipped close to 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 146 countries and territories, with the vast majority of doses delivered to countries in the Global South. This represented the fastest and most complex deployment of vaccines ever seen, and modelling estimates that over 2.7 million deaths were averted by COVAX vaccines by the end of 2022.”
This Lancet Infectious Diseases article covers CEPI's $3.5 billion 5-year strategic plan launched in 2021 to reduce pandemic and epidemic risks, building on COVID-19 vaccine development successes. CEPI prioritizes next-generation vaccines, rapid-response platform technologies for unknown 'Disease X' pathogens, and vaccines against known threats like filoviruses and Lassa fever. The initiative represents a major institutional commitment to pandemic preparedness infrastructure.
“On March 10, 2021, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations launched a US$3·5 billion plan to reduce the risk of future pandemics and epidemics.”
This article from VaccinesBeat examines CEPI's ambitious '100 Days Mission' to develop a safe and effective vaccine within 100 days of a future pandemic threat being identified. It frames rapid vaccine development as a global necessity rather than a regional concern, highlighting the institutional and coordination challenges involved.
“The vaccine library currently seeks to keep up with varying pathogens by focusing on viral families with demonstrated pandemic potential, such as Paramyxoviridae, Flaviviridae, Togaviridae, Filoviridae, Bunyaviridae, Arenaviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Picornaviridae, among others. Additionally, CEPI is creating a collection of prototype vaccines targeting important virus families, tested through Phase 1 clinical trials, to be able to adapt and respond to arising threats.”
“CEPI highlights that a global clinical trials network with pre-approved protocols is essential to accelerating vaccine development.”
CEPI and Samsung Biologics have formed a partnership with a $20 million initial budget to strengthen vaccine manufacturing preparedness, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. Samsung Biologics joins CEPI's Vaccine Manufacturing Facility Network as its first East Asian partner, focusing on scalable recombinant-protein vaccine manufacturing using mammalian cell-based infrastructure. The collaboration supports CEPI's 100 Days Mission to enable rapid vaccine deployment against future pandemic threats.
“According to CEPI, Samsung’s admission to the VMFN will position it to supply up to 50 million doses of vaccine in a pandemic along with an additional one-billion doses of drug substance, ready to be converted into finished vaccine.”
CEPI is an international organization focused on accelerating vaccine development and securing the world against epidemic and pandemic threats. It funds and coordinates research into vaccines for emerging infectious diseases, supports manufacturing capacity, and works toward a '100 Days Mission' to compress vaccine development timelines. Its work spans biosecurity policy, global health equity, and outbreak preparedness infrastructure.
“CEPI, Oxford, Serum create largest-ever reserve of investigational Rift Valley fever vaccine”
“News CEPI backs updated Zaire ebolavirus vaccine that aims to improve vaccine affordability and accessibility”
CEPI's Disease X initiative addresses preparedness for future pandemics caused by novel, unidentified pathogens. It outlines how AI tools, platform vaccine technologies, and broad viral family research strategies can accelerate response times to emerging infectious disease threats. COVID-19 served as the first real-world Disease X event, validating the importance of advance preparation.
“Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), for example, have made it possible to quickly and effectively model viral mutations and derive vaccine targets based on these predictions.”
The source mentions using AI for vaccine development and modeling viral mutations, but it does not specifically mention using AI for viral modeling and earlier immune response biomarkers.
This 2021 Lancet article examines criticism directed at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) for maintaining secretive grant agreements with COVID-19 vaccine developers despite receiving $1.4 billion in public funding. Legal experts argue that without transparency in contract terms and enforcement mechanisms, neither CEPI nor funded companies can be properly held accountable to public stakeholders. The piece highlights tensions between institutional opacity and public accountability in publicly-funded emergency health initiatives.
“Inger Berg Ørstavik, law professor at the University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, specialising in patent licensing law and research and development agreements, says that without more openness, neither CEPI nor the vaccine manufacturers the organisation funds can be held accountable. “CEPI is doing important and commendable work. But it surprises me that CEPI is so much into individually negotiated secret agreements and that there has been so little transparency about the terms”, she said.”
““In a pandemic situation, where high-income countries are not particularly price sensitive and are willing to pay pretty much anything just to get access to these vaccines, Gavi has very little power to negotiate with companies”, he added.”
CEPI and WHO jointly called for an expanded global research strategy that focuses on entire pathogen families—not just known pandemic threats—using prototype pathogens as guides to build broadly applicable knowledge and countermeasures. The strategy, presented at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024, aims to accelerate surveillance and response capabilities for emerging and unknown threats including 'pathogen X'. The prioritization framework involved over 200 scientists evaluating 1,652 pathogens across 28 virus families.
“At the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024 held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, WHO R&D Blueprint for Epidemics issued a report urging a broader-based approach by researchers and countries.”
The CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) news page aggregates updates on global pandemic preparedness, vaccine development, and biosecurity policy. It covers initiatives including the CEPI 3.0 strategic investment case, mRNA vaccine development, biosafety oversight, and international health cooperation. Content spans multiple disease threats including Nipah, Ebola, Lassa fever, and pandemic influenza.
“Strengthening biosecurity and biosafety oversight: CEPI publishes its first Biosecurity Policy”
The source does not mention the publication of a Biosecurity Policy.
“West African leaders commit to advance Lassa Fever vaccine for the region”
The claim states that West African Ministers of Health pledged joint commitment to advance Lassa fever vaccines on September 8, 2025, but the source says West African leaders, not ministers, made the commitment. The claim states that CEPI funded multiple vaccine candidates, but the source only mentions funding one vaccine candidate.
“CEPI partners with AVAREF to boost clinical trial application reviews in Africa”
CEPI is investing up to $18 million to fund Stanford School of Medicine researchers in developing broad-spectrum vaccines that could protect against multiple filoviruses including Zaire Ebolavirus, Marburg, and Sudan Ebolavirus. The project uses AI-designed immunogens combined with a ferritin nanoparticle platform, aiming to create an 'all-in-one' filovirus vaccine and prepare defenses against unknown future filovirus pathogens ('Disease X').
“CEPI will fund new research conducted by scientists at the Stanford School of Medicine to study whether new vaccines could offer broad protection against multiple deadly pathogens from the filovirus viral family.”
CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) is an international organization founded after the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic to accelerate vaccine and biologic countermeasure development against epidemic and pandemic threats. Its mission emphasizes equitable global access and coordinates public, private, and academic partners. CEPI also drives the '100 Days Mission' to compress vaccine development timelines in response to future outbreaks.
“CEPI’s 2022-2026 plan, known as CEPI 2.0, is helping the world to make the scientific progress needed to respond to the next Disease X threat with a new vaccine in just 100 days.”
“CEPI's 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 (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) is an international organization founded to finance and coordinate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and epidemics. It exists to address market failures that leave the world unprepared for epidemic threats, accelerating vaccine development before outbreaks become pandemics. CEPI represents a model of public-private-philanthropic coordination for global health security.
“Events like the devastating 2014-16 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa—which killed more than 11,000 people and had an economic and social burden of over US $53 billion—showed us that very few vaccines are ready to be used against these threats.”
This article from Epidemiologic Reviews proposes a global fund dedicated to vaccine development, arguing that current market incentives are insufficient to drive investment in vaccines for diseases primarily affecting low-income populations. It examines funding mechanisms and governance structures that could coordinate international resources for vaccine R&D.
24Cambridge Core - Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the Partnerships of Equitable Vaccine AccessCambridge University Press (peer-reviewed)▸
This article examines CEPI's role as a public-private partnership in accelerating vaccine development and ensuring equitable global access during epidemics. It analyzes the governance structures, funding mechanisms, and partnership models that shape how CEPI attempts to balance innovation incentives with equitable distribution goals. The piece explores tensions between commercial interests and public health imperatives in pandemic preparedness.
“Even with its significant portfolio of rights to direct use, CEPI experienced significant limitations as to the leverage they could exercise against national governments and as to both the financial incentives and coercive pressure they exerted on vaccine manufacturers.”
This document presents the original 2017 policy framework for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global initiative to finance and coordinate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases. It outlines CEPI's mandate, funding conditions, and access requirements for publicly-funded vaccine development. MSF's Access Campaign hosts this document to scrutinize and advocate for stronger equitable access provisions in CEPI's policies.
This paper analyzes the progress of international negotiations toward a WHO pandemic agreement, examining the key provisions, sticking points, and governance implications of efforts to create a binding international framework for pandemic preparedness and response. It assesses how nations are coordinating (or failing to coordinate) on shared global health security challenges.
“Lastly, in a landmark decision, the 78th World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement during its plenary session on 20 May 2025. The agreement’s adoption follows three years of intensive negotiations, initiated in response to the gaps and inequities revealed during the global COVID-19 response. The following steps will focus on negotiations concerning the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system.”
This page is the BIO Convention exhibitor listing for CEPI, a global alliance that finances and coordinates the development of vaccines against epidemic threats. CEPI works to accelerate vaccine development for emerging infectious diseases to prevent future pandemics. The profile represents CEPI's participation in biotechnology industry networking and partnership-building events.
“CEPI’s 2022-2026 plan, known as CEPI 2.0, is helping the world to make the scientific progress needed to respond to the next Disease X threat with a new vaccine in just 100 days. This goal is known as the 100 Days Mission.”
The source does not mention G7 or G20 leaders endorsing the goal, platform technologies, or building prototype vaccine libraries.
“CEPI’s 2022-2026 plan, known as CEPI 2.0, is helping the world to make the scientific progress needed to respond to the next Disease X threat with a new vaccine in just 100 days. This goal is known as the 100 Days Mission.”
This is a Devex organizational profile page for CEPI, a global partnership that finances and coordinates the development of vaccines against epidemic threats. CEPI focuses on accelerating vaccine development for emerging infectious diseases to prevent future pandemics. It serves as a reference entry for understanding CEPI's mission, funding, and partnerships in the global health security space.
“CEPI will be a partnership of public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations to stimulate, finance and co-ordinate vaccine development against priority threats, particularly when development is unlikely to occur through market incentives alone.”
The source states CEPI was founded in August 2016, not January 2017. The source mentions the World Economic Forum as one of the founding organizations, but does not explicitly state that CEPI was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“As epidemics disproportionately affect low-income countries, CEPI will ensure that the vaccines they help to develop are affordable, so that price is never a barrier to access, and they are available to populations with the most need.”
This article outlines CEPI's (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) ambitious $3.5 billion fundraising and strategic plan aimed at accelerating vaccine development to combat current and future epidemic and pandemic threats. The plan focuses on compressing vaccine development timelines and building global preparedness infrastructure. It represents a major international coordination effort in biological risk reduction.
“In March 2021, CEPI launched its forward-looking $3.5bn plan which seeks to reduce or even mitigate the risk of future epidemic and pandemic threats. Under the strategic pillars of prepare, transform and connect, the five-year strategy includes several ambitious programmes which aim to build upon the lessons of COVID-19 to create a suite of new, life-saving tools to fight the next big outbreak.”
The claim mentions SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific vaccines, while the source mentions vaccines that protect against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and other coronaviruses. The claim mentions linking surveillance systems to vaccine development decisions, which is not explicitly stated in the source.
“This includes building the next generation of COVID-19 vaccine candidates as well as advancing vaccines which can protect against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and other coronaviruses.”
“In March 2021, CEPI launched its forward-looking $3.5bn plan which seeks to reduce or even mitigate the risk of future epidemic and pandemic threats.”
CEPI is an international coalition founded in 2017 to finance and coordinate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases. It operates as a public-private partnership bringing together governments, philanthropies, and the pharmaceutical industry to accelerate vaccine development for epidemic threats. CEPI gained global prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for funding multiple vaccine candidates at unprecedented speed.