CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)

We are thrilled to announce our new cohort of Fellows! As part of the Fellowship program, which aims to strengthen biosecurity capacity and expertise, Fellows will be placed with organizations and agencies at the leading edge of efforts to advance global biothreat reduction: 🔶 Adam Abdullahi - International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) 🔷 Valentin Disashi N., M.S - CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) 🔶 JohnBaptist Galiwango - Africa CDC 🔷 Musonda Mandona - Africa CDC 🔶 Joyce Masvaya “The Science Diplomat” 👩🏾🔬 - rani - Resilience Action Network International 🔷 Cyrille Kablan Nouoma - United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) & United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) 🔶 Zakariyau Yusuf - Brown University Pandemic Center This Fellowship is made possible by an award from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation and builds on the successes of the Biosecurity Game Changers Initiative. Check out our full press release to learn more about the projects and year ahead for our incoming fellows. https://lnkd.in/gJKRbYKz

Developing a vaccine in 100 days is only part of the challenge. We also need to be able to manufacture it quickly and consistently. That’s why CEPI has published a new seven-document Regulatory framework on process validation and comparability, two areas that can create significant bottlenecks when moving vaccines rapidly through development and manufacturing. The guidance covers four vaccine modalities: mRNA; Viral vector; Subunit protein; Inactivated virus. The focus is to promote alignment between vaccine developers and regulators from the beginning on the approaches needed to demonstrate that manufacturing processes and vaccine products remain consistent as development moves forward. Developed by CEPI’s Regulatory CMC team since 2022, the framework brings together expertise from across CEPI and partners in industry, academia, DCVMN, IFPMA and Vaccines Europe. It is another piece of the puzzle in making the 100 Days Mission a reality, helping ensure that regulatory and manufacturing considerations are addressed early, before the next outbreak strikes. Read the framework and find out more ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ezsqs8yp and https://lnkd.in/eH5hXsiv

On 8th September, in New Delhi, CEPI, India's Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) brought together leaders from government, industry, research and global health for India-CEPI SANGAM (Strategic Alliance for Next-generation Global Access and MCM Preparedness) -- a high-level showcase of India’s strengths in vaccine innovation, biotechnology, clinical research and manufacturing.  “Sangam” means a confluence or coming together—an apt reflection of the event’s aim to unite partners across science, industry and global health preparedness. The event explored how these capabilities can help advance the 100 Days Mission, strengthen pandemic preparedness and ensure more equitable access to medical countermeasures when the next outbreak strikes. CEPI Board Chair Jane Halton and CEO Richard Hatchett joined representatives from DBT, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., Bharat Biotech, Biological E. Limited E and Immunoscript Life Science to discuss the next generation of biologics and the partnerships needed to turn innovation into global health impact. India’s innovation ecosystem has a vital role to play in building a world better prepared to face down future epidemics and pandemics, and CEPI looks forward to continuing to deepen its ties with India and its life sciences community. The India–CEPI partnership underscores how sustained collaboration between national scientific leadership and global preparedness platforms can accelerate innovation, expand access, and strengthen collective readiness for future epidemic and pandemic threats.

Speaker announcement for CEPI's UNGA 81 side-event ⬇️ We're pleased to announce the following speakers will take part in CEPI's flagship side event, Building Crisis-Ready Coalitions: From Fragmentation to Readiness: 🔵 State Secretary Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🔵 Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, WHO 🔵 Dr Ciro Ugarte, Director, Health Emergencies, PAHO  🔵 Hon. Prof Jane Halton AO PSM FAICD, Chair, CEPI Board 🔵 Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO, CEPI With more speakers to be announced soon! The discussion will bring together leaders from government, industry, regulatory agencies and health organisations to explore how long-term partnerships can transform fragmented efforts into collective readiness for the 100 Days Mission, drawing on real-world progress, including the rapid response to the Bundibugyo outbreak. 📍 Japan Society, New York | 21 September, 11:30 EST (17:30 CET) Attend in person or watch the livestream. Register now: https://lnkd.in/eYghifpx

Conventional mRNA vaccines must be stored and transported at ultra-low temperatures to remain stable and effective. During an outbreak, this can impact access to doses in low-resource or remote settings that lack the equipment needed to prevent vaccines from spoiling, hindering efforts to save lives and contain the spread of a disease. Today we announced new funding of up to US$8.9 million in Immunoscript Life Science to advance clinical testing of its thermostable next-generation self-amplifying RNA vaccine technology. The CLNE vaccine platform, developed and authorised in India during the COVID-19 pandemic, uses a ‘nanoemulsion’ design that can help overcome such temperature challenges to deliver freezer-free RNA vaccines. The move marks an important boost to India’s growing RNA medicine sector while potentially expanding the reach of RNA vaccines to communities where cold-chain infrastructure is limited. As our CEO Richard Hatchett highlights, this could better prepare "both India and the world against deadly emerging threats including a future ‘Disease X’.” Read more in the press release linked in the Comments.

We’re partnering with Impact Global Health to generate evidence of how biosafety and biosecurity are funded and accounted for in global health R&D settings. Despite its importance, there's no clear picture of how it's managed across the sector. Find out more about the project here and tell us how you manage this essential expenditure through this short survey which takes 3-5 minutes to complete ➡️ https://lnkd.in/erQbV7yQ

“If we know that a threat can kill millions or even billions of our brothers and sisters, then we must be prepared for it. We must do the same—or better—to prepare for the next war against disease by investing seriously in saving lives,” said Budi Sadikin, Indonesia’s Minister of Health, at a pandemic simulation exercise hosted by CEPI and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia this week in Jakarta. The event brought together over 120 experts working across the vaccine and epidemic preparedness research ecosystem in the region to discuss how they can collaborate and leverage the full breadth of Indonesia’s pandemic preparedness capability and infrastructure to develop a vaccine against a fictional 'Nipah-X' in as little as 100 days. Discover more in the press release linked below.

Join CEPI at UNGA 2026 ⬇️ As global leaders gather for the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, CEPI invites you to join its flagship side event: Building Crisis-Ready Coalitions: From Fragmentation to Readiness. The discussion will bring together leaders from government, industry, regulatory agencies and health organisations to explore how long-term partnerships can transform fragmented efforts into collective readiness for the 100 Days Mission, drawing on real-world progress, including the rapid response to the Bundibugyo outbreak. 📍 Japan Society, New York | 21 September, 11:30 EST (17:30 CET) More information to follow! Attend in person or watch the livestream. Register now: https://lnkd.in/eYghifpx

It is with great sadness that CEPI received the news that Dr Vaseeharan Sathiyamoorthy, or Vasee Moorthy for short, passed away suddenly on 30 August 2026. He was the Strategy and Scientific Adviser in the Department of Science for Health and acting Lead of the R&D Blueprint for Epidemics in the Office of the Chief Scientist at WHO. CEPI’s Deputy CEO, Aurélia Nguyen, had the privilege of spending the past week with Vasee in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as part of the WHO delegation led by Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, observing the Ebola outbreak response and working together to advance preparations for vaccine clinical trials. It was a week of long days - airports, offices, bumpy roads, hours in the field - which provided an opportunity to talk at length about the work and the people behind it. Vasee was one of the most respected figures in the global research community. He was especially proud of his work designing the Phase 3 clinical trial for the malaria vaccine that ultimately secured licensure. Over seventeen years at WHO, he valued deeply that it was an institution where scientific advice could be given honestly and taken seriously. He spoke warmly of the wide community of researchers he convened and consulted throughout his career, and of how much he enjoyed that collaborative spirit. During the visit to Kinshasa and Bunia, Vasee’s overarching drive was to ensure the country had ownership of the research component of the response, in the two clinical trials for therapeutics under way and in the preparation for the vaccine clinical trials. Having clinical trial research capacity in lower-income countries was the theme that animated him through his whole career, whether for endemic diseases like malaria or in outbreak response for Ebola. Outside of work, Vasee was a passionate hiker who organised a weekly hiking group and chased a personal goal of doing a thousand metres of elevation every week. He was looking forward to the multi-day hike he took every September. He was also a loving husband and devoted father to his three children and spoke of his family often and with real pride. Vasee brought rigour, warmth, and an unmistakable enthusiasm to everything he did - for science, in the mountains, and for the people around him. This is deeply shocking and tragic news, he will be deeply missed by the many communities he was part of. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.

CEPI's latest newsletter is now available ⬇️ This edition spotlights CEPI’s ongoing efforts to close the mpox vaccine access gap, the latest progress in the fight against Bundibugyo ebolavirus—including funding for a fifth vaccine candidate and the initiation of another Phase 1 trial—plus all the latest R&D news and our other regular features.