CEPI is a new alliance between governments, industry, academia, philanthropy, intergovernmental institutions, such as the World Health Organization, and civil society.
Mission– to stop future epidemics by developing new vaccines for a safer world.
Challenges
Vaccine development is not quick enough to start long before an epidemic so that final clinical trials or emergency deployment can begin swiftly in an outbreak.
It typically takes more than 10 years to make vaccines that work and are safe.
Once a vaccine is created, complex regulations and laws that vary from country to country can delay getting vaccines to the people who desperately need them.
CEPI aims to overcome these barriers with a new model for funding vaccine developments against epidemic diseases to contribute to the health security the world needs.
Founding partners: Dept of Biotechnology, Ministry of S&T, Government of India, Government of Norway, Wellcome Trust, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and World Economic Forum
Why CEPI is needed?
- Recent epidemics (Ebola in West Africa and Zika in S. America) have exposed serious flaws in the world’s capacity to prepare for and respond to infectious disease outbreaks.
- Existence of vaccines could have slowed, halted or even prevented an epidemic in each outbreak, thereby saving many lives and prevent profound social and economic disruption in the countries affected.
- Though Ebola proved that vaccines can be developed quickly but it is not rational to continue to rely on ad-hoc partnerships and the goodwill of a handful of companies.
- Hence, there was a need of sustainable model for epidemic vaccine development
What is India’s role as a leader in CEPI?
- India has the scientific talent and capacity to respond to any exigency, as was witnessed in case of H1N1 outbreak. With right incentives and partnerships, India could help countries, regional or international agencies to respond to any pandemic or epidemic in a quick, efficient and affordable manner.
- India will prepare vaccines for diseases that have the potential for causing outbreaks and not focus only on common diseases like rotavirus. Rotavirus vaccine by Bharat biotech was the last vaccine developed in India which underwent an ‘effectiveness or efficacy’ study. It is currently being used by the MOHFW in four States. Chikungunya vaccine made in India remains to be evaluated for its effectiveness.
- Thus, India will collaborate with governments and agencies like WHO, the Wellcome Trust and others to develop the strategies for partnerships, technical development, regulatory and ethical approaches and find the resources and commitments needed for the coalition.