The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has announced a commitment of up to $50 million over 10 years to the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) to advance equitable access to vaccines for countries in the Global South.

With the aim of advancing access to vaccines in Africa and helping meet the African Union’s goal of increasing African manufacturers’ share of vaccine supply to 60 percent by 2040, the partnership will boost IPD’s manufacturing of affordable vaccines and reserve capacity to produce vaccines specifically for Global South countries to combat the inequity seen in the response to COVID-19.

IPD will initially receive $15 million over three years to bolster the development and sustainability of its manufacturing facilities for routine and outbreak vaccinations across multiple vaccine technologies so they can begin supplying vaccines to Global South countries within 100 days of a new pathogen being identified. To that end, the partnership will enhance and equip Drug Substance manufacturing capability to produce outbreak vaccines, launch a bioprocessing laboratory to accelerate vaccine production and reduce costs, invest in specialist workforce training and development, and support the development of a quality management system.

“Our partnership with Institut Pasteur de Dakar aims to support agile and resilient manufacturing capacity and capability that is ready and able to respond to the threat of new disease outbreaks,” said CEPI chief executive  Richard Hatchett. “IPD will be a crucial partner in our global manufacturing network, guaranteeing CEPI-backed vaccine developers rapid access to world-class manufacturing capacity and expertise when faced with future outbreaks. Historically, a handful of countries and regions have dominated access to global vaccine supply. This needs to change if the world is to stand a chance of mounting rapid, equitable responses to future outbreak and pandemic threats. Key to achieving this mission will be the establishment of a global network of vaccine manufacturers, specifically in underserved Global South regions where many of the people most vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks live.”

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