Serum Institute of India joins global network to boost production of affordable outbreak vaccines

Serum Institute of India joins global network to boost production of affordable outbreak vaccines

Subject: IR

Section: International Org

Context:

• The Serum Institute of India (SII) is joining the CEPI network (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) to enhance vaccine production capabilities in the Global South.

Details:

• This collaboration aims to support faster, more agile, and equitable responses to future disease outbreaks. CEPI’s ambitious goal is to have vaccines ready for initial authorization and large-scale manufacturing within 100 days of identifying a pandemic pathogen. The inclusion of SII in this network is expected to significantly boost vaccine production efforts in the Global South and help achieve the 100 Days Mission.
• This initiative combines the rapid development of vaccines with improved surveillance for earlier detection of pandemics, along with interventions like testing, contact tracing, and social distancing to suppress disease transmission. CEPI believes this approach will give the world a better chance to contain and control future pathogenic threats, thereby avoiding the devastating impacts seen with COVID-19.
• The manufacturing network will focus on vaccine producers in the Global South, particularly in regions at high risk of outbreaks from viruses like Lassa Fever, Nipah, Disease X, and other pathogens prioritized by CEPI. The Global South generally includes Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, most of Asia (excluding a few countries), and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand).
• CEPI is investing up to $30 million to expand SII’s capacity for rapid response to infectious disease outbreaks. This investment will enhance SII’s ability to quickly supply investigational vaccines during epidemics and pandemics. It will enable swift technology transfer to partners at the onset of an outbreak, facilitating rapid production and equitable distribution of affordable vaccines.

Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI):

• The CEPI is a foundation that takes donations to finance independent research projects to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases (EID).
• It is focused on the WHO’s “blueprint priority diseases.
• These diseases include the Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the SARS coronavirus 2 the Nipah virus, the Lassa fever virus, and the Rift Valley fever virus, as well as the Chikungunya virus and the hypothetical, unknown pathogen “Disease X”.
• CEPI investment also requires “equitable access” to the vaccines during outbreaks.
• CEPI was conceived in 2015 and formally launched in 2017 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Source: TH