CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)

📣 CEPI-funded first-ever Phase II Lassa vaccine trial launched by IAVI in Nigeria   https://lnkd.in/e7htcxjq   The CEPI-funded trial is taking place at HJF Medical Research International in Abuja to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of IAVI’s single dose Lassa fever vaccine candidate – the first ever to reach Phase II trials. The study has been designed in consultation with key partners including Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nigeria Lassa Vaccine Taskforce.   Altogether, more than 600 participants are expected to enrol in the study, which is also due to take place in Liberia and Ghana, pending regulatory approval.   For over fifty years, Lassa fever has remained a public health burden to West Africa. The potentially deadly disease, typically spread by multimammate rats, causes a range of symptoms from headache and fever to more serious symptoms like vomiting, swelling of the face, pain in the chest and back, and bleeding.   Our CEO Richard Hatchett described the launch of the new trial as “an important milestone in public health and signals that better tools to manage and prevent outbreaks are coming.” Should its candidate be found to be safe and efficacious in clinical testing, IAVI is committed to making its vaccines affordable and accessible to populations in need.   CEPI is one of the top funders of Lassa research. Find out more about our work on Lassa and other Arenaviruses in The Viral Most Wanted: The Arenaviruses https://lnkd.in/eqtGAFE6

The Hantavirus family—behind diseases like Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome—has two distinct subgroups: the Old World Hantaviruses, found in Africa, Asia, & Europe, and the New World Hantaviruses, found in the Americas. Hantaviruses are normally carried by rats, mice, and other rodents. Some of these viruses focus their attacks on blood vessels in the lungs, causing blood to leak out and ultimately ‘drowning’ their victims. Explore the latest instalment of The Viral Most Wanted—The Hantaviruses to learn more about this group of viruses, including how they operate, who they affect, and the lines of enquiry being pursued to help stop future outbreaks ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g3x8SbaU Discover The Viral Most Wanted series 🔎 https://lnkd.in/ez_rvJm8

COVID-19 and other outbreaks have starkly shown that epidemics and pandemics are not just a health sector issue, they are also issues of national and global security. As part of our new partnership with the Munich Security Conference, back in February this year Foreign Policy and CEPI brought together health and security leaders from across sectors and around the world for a simulation exercise based on the emergence of a hypothetical virus spreading globally. The exercise was undertaken to help identify opportunities to reduce global biosecurity vulnerabilities and provide important insights around the benefits and risks of using AI technologies to advance the #100DaysMission. Here’s more from our Director of Biosecurity, Andrew Hebbeler, Ph.D. and his team, about their findings: https://lnkd.in/eZjRig2U

Have you got a game-changing idea to strengthen biosecurity in support of greater pandemic preparedness? If yes, we invite you to apply for our new fellowship position at CEPI as part of Brown University’s Biosecurity Game Changers Fellowship. Applications now open ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eApQ_8jC Recognizing the crucial intersection between pandemic preparedness and biosecurity, CEPI has recently launched a new, dedicated biosecurity function with generous support from Global Affairs Canada | Affaires mondiales Canada. CEPI’s biosecurity team will elevate the important role of biosecurity across the end-to-end preparedness ecosystem and accelerate global progress towards achieving the 100 Days Mission. For the fellowship position, CEPI is seeking enthusiastic, collaborative, and highly motivated rising leaders to spearhead efforts to strengthen oversight of R&D involving high-consequence pathogens, enhance global biosecurity capabilities, with a focus on the Global South, drive biosecurity for equity and the 100 Days Mission, reduce emerging technology risks, and accelerate biosecurity innovation. 📅 Fellowship Duration: 1 year. 🔍 Who Can Apply? Early- to mid-career health security professionals. 📌 Deadline: May 29, 2024. For more information about the Fellowship, including how to apply, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eApQ_8jC

United in the fight against mpox in Africa CEPI last week joined the High-Level Emergency regional meeting hosted by World Health Organization, Africa CDC and the DRC Ministry of Public Health and Hygiene to discuss the increased public health concern for mpox and the escalating number of Clade I mpox infections in the (DRC) and other countries. Clade I mpox strains can be fatal in 5-10% of cases, and in the current outbreak children appear to account for the majority of infections and lives lost. The escalation of cases follows the 2022-2023 public health emergency where another, less deadly strain of mpox, known as Clade II, spread globally.  Held in the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, the meeting was an important platform for experts to come together from across Africa and globally to discuss the next steps for tackling this devastating outbreak - the largest and deadliest mpox outbreak to date. As the H.E. Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Prevention of DRC, Dr. S. Roger Kamba, shared: “Today’s meeting brings around the table those concerned with bringing the outbreak under control. What did we learn after all these years of fights against viruses?” Key actions were laid out in a communique signed by several Ministers of Health across Africa which outlines a cross-cutting approach to strengthen preparedness and response efforts across the region, including accelerating R&D and regulatory processes for mpox vaccines for high-risk populations, such as children, as well as other countermeasures. To date, two vaccines have been licensed for use against mpox - MVA-BN (made by Bavarian Nordic) approved for use in adults by FDA, EMA and several other countries and LC16m8 (made by KM Biologics) licensed in Japan for use in both adults and children. CEPI stands ready to support our partners and the new 'Africa Taskforce on Mpox Coordination'. “Only by working together across sectors can we stop the spread of mpox” – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Find out more: https://lnkd.in/d2yXZbGe

In this new opinion piece for Frontiers, CEPI scientists highlight the role of CEPI’s Centralised Laboratory Network (CLN) in accelerating vaccine development against emerging infectious diseases & supporting global health efforts ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e-Hms_wa Launched in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CLN is the world’s largest network of vaccine testing laboratories, consisting of 18 facilities in 13 different countries. To date, the network has served over 60 vaccine developers to assess their vaccine candidates at all stages of development, processing over 120,000 samples. In case of an outbreak, having an established global clinical laboratory network will facilitate faster data readouts by harmonising analyses and reducing sample shipping times due to its global footprint. Check out the most recent network announcement to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eSn2Cabj

CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) was honoured to participate and help shape discussions at the #BrazilG20 Health Working Group meeting, especially on the key topics of #DigitalHealth and the Global Alliance for #RegionalProduction and #Innovation and how to increase #EquitableAccess to #epidemic and #pandemic #vaccines. CEPI’s statement on the G20 Presidency’s proposal for a Global Alliance for Local and Regional Production and Innovation: ''CEPI welcomes and supports the Brazil G20 Presidency’s focus on local and regional production and innovation. The stark disparities in vaccine distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the importance of this objective. CEPI encourages the G20 to take the following key issues into consideration: 1.      A regional coordinated approach to create healthy markets - few countries can achieve the necessary scale of demand, investment, capacity and resources to maintain viable vaccine manufacturing end-to-end within their borders. Building sustainable local and regional manufacturing must be pursued in a coordinated fashion to build healthy markets that support equitable access. 2.      Map and build on existing initiatives - it is critical that this Alliance builds on existing initiatives to promote synergies and avoid duplication within the global health architecture. Proper landscaping has to be done regarding existing structures such as PAVM, DCVMN, PAHO revolving fund and relevant national, regional and global policies. 3.      Maintain a broad scope for the Alliance – this has the advantage of enabling its sustainability by allowing subsequent G20 Presidencies to focus on specific pathogens or technological areas of interest, such as mRNA. CEPI’s investment in scientific and technological innovations for vaccine R&D against potential epidemic and pandemic pathogens have spillover benefits to foster innovation and drive advancements in other domains, such as neglected diseases that affect the most vulnerable populations. To support local and regional manufacturing, CEPI has established a network of geo-diverse manufacturing partners with the objective of being quickly mobilised at the onset of a disease outbreak to manufacture and supply vaccines for clinical trials or vaccinations closer to where outbreaks happen. CEPI is also hosting and funding the #RegionalisedVaccineManufacturingCollaborative (RVMC) to address gaps in global vaccine equity, by creating sustainable regional manufacturing networks capable of producing enough vaccines for self-sufficiency during peace times and during health crises.   Finally, as major R&D funders, G20 countries have a critical role in supporting and co-development of technology and in facilitating technology transfer, especially by including equity-related provisions in government-funded R&D agreements and in licensing of government-owned technology. Thank you, Chair. '' Ankur Mutreja Frederik Kristensen

📣 CEPI-funded first-ever Phase II Lassa vaccine trial launched by IAVI in Nigeria   https://lnkd.in/e7htcxjq   The CEPI-funded trial is taking place at HJF Medical Research International in Abuja to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of IAVI’s single dose Lassa fever vaccine candidate – the first ever to reach Phase II trials. The study has been designed in consultation with key partners including Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nigeria Lassa Vaccine Taskforce.   Altogether, more than 600 participants are expected to enrol in the study, which is also due to take place in Liberia and Ghana, pending regulatory approval.   For over fifty years, Lassa fever has remained a public health burden to West Africa. The potentially deadly disease, typically spread by multimammate rats, causes a range of symptoms from headache and fever to more serious symptoms like vomiting, swelling of the face, pain in the chest and back, and bleeding.   Our CEO Richard Hatchett described the launch of the new trial as “an important milestone in public health and signals that better tools to manage and prevent outbreaks are coming.” Should its candidate be found to be safe and efficacious in clinical testing, IAVI is committed to making its vaccines affordable and accessible to populations in need.   CEPI is one of the top funders of Lassa research. Find out more about our work on Lassa and other Arenaviruses in The Viral Most Wanted: The Arenaviruses https://lnkd.in/eqtGAFE6

“I told them it is not witchcraft, it is a virus.” Lassa fever is a potentially deadly disease which has affected countries in West Africa for over fifty years. While most people infected may be asymptomatic, some can experience symptoms which include vomiting, swelling of the face, pain in the chest and back, and bleeding. And many of those who recover have dealt with life-changing consequences, like permanent hearing loss. With no vaccines available against the disease, CEPI has been advancing Lassa fever research since 2017 and is today one of the world’s biggest Lassa vaccine R&D funders. We are funding four candidate vaccines which are in active development, including IAVI’s viral-vector candidate vaccine which has become the first ever Lassa vaccine to enter Phase II clinical trials: https://lnkd.in/e7htcxjq What’s next for Lassa fever? And how can we overcome this regional disease burden? Leslie Roberts explores the evolving epidemiology, history and outbreak response to date in this long-read in Science Magazine: https://lnkd.in/eg5FnaWk

From the historical—and now non-existent—Smallpox outbreaks to the very current and growing Mpox outbreaks, the Poxvirus family is the source for some of the most feared viral epidemics to have hit humankind. Made up of more than 70 viruses, the Poxvirus family has four subgroups known to pose a risk to human populations: the Orthopoxviruses, the Parapoxviruses, the Molluscipoxviruses and the Yatapoxviruses. While this viral family is responsible for Smallpox, one of the most contagious and deadly diseases in human history, it is also responsible for one of the most important advances in modern medicine—vaccination. Multiple historic and successful lines of enquiry against the Smallpox agent Variola Virus were pivotal in advancing other areas of human physiology, shaping modern medicine as we now know it. Explore The Viral Most Wanted—The Poxviruses to find out more about this large group of viruses, including how they operate, who they affect and the lines of enquiry being pursued to help stop future outbreaks ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eSmRDvve Discover The Viral Most Wanted series 🔎 https://lnkd.in/ez_rvJm8