8 March 2022 – We welcome the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit on 7-8 March 2022 as a key milestone in rallying efforts to foster development of new vaccines within 100 days of a future pandemic being identified and ensuring their fair and equitable distribution around the world.
We hope the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will meet its replenishment fundraising target to support its ambitious initiatives to reduce the risk of future pandemics and epidemics. The biopharmaceutical industry is a long-standing partner of CEPI and we will continue to work in partnership as we prepare to respond to future viral threats.
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the biopharmaceutical industry is learning everyday how it can do more and build upon its accomplishments responding to COVID-19. The challenge for the global healthcare community now is to collectively turn the hard lessons learned from COVID-19 into tangible and sustainable pandemic preparedness solutions. We now need to build agile and responsive health system structures, so we are as prepared as possible to respond to the next global public health crisis.
We welcomed and are committed to continue to deliver on the G7 agreement of June 2021, in which governments agreed to work in partnership with the private sector towards a 100 Days Mission to improve readiness for future pandemics as reflected in the subsequent 100 Days Mission report. To continue contributing and seeking to improve how we collectively respond to future pandemics the vaccine manufacturers in the developing and the developed world, and the biotech and biopharmaceutical industry more broadly commits to:
- Investing in research and development on target pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential and to build a portfolio of promising candidate vaccines, treatments and technologies.
- Working to reduce manufacturing complexities and developing new manufacturing methods to adapt and quickly expand manufacturing capacity for new vaccines to address future public health emergencies.
- Contributing to a strengthened global clinical trial infrastructure by producing high-quality evidence on the efficacy and safety of our products, both prior to and during pandemic conditions, and maintaining the highest levels of quality and ethical standards, transparency and accountability.
Additionally we call for greater clarity around pathogen-surveillance and immediate sharing of pathogens and their genetic information. Our ability to prepare for and respond to pandemics swiftly, rests on improved pathogen surveillance, immediate information and data sharing, and the scientific community’s ability to collaborate efficiently and effectively. Swift, certain and unencumbered access to pathogens and their genetic information – know as digital sequence information (DSI) or genetic sequence data (GSD) – is the bedrock of global health security. Any delays in accessing pathogen samples and their genetic information will delay public health preparedness and response activities or biomedical research to address emerging infectious diseases, will risk lives and waste money.
Thomas Cueni, Director General, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations: “COVID-19 has taught the global healthcare community hard but important lessons. Let’s use them to make our defences against the next pandemic more nimble, more robust, and – above all – more equitable. We have seen the strength of a strong innovation ecosystem leading to the rapid development of multiple solutions, acting to expand partnerships, knowledge-sharing, and technology transfer in unprecedented ways. CEPI has played a critical role in bringing people across the innovation ecosystem together in the COVID-19 pandemic and we look forward to continued cross collaboration with CEPI as we prepare for future pandemics”.
Richard Torbett, Chief Executive, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry: “The UK has played an important global role in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s vital that the world is even better prepared against future health threats, and the work between CEPI and governments around the world is central to this. Many companies are working around the clock to make the 100-day mission possible. Our industry is determined to ensure we can hit the ground running in the face of future pandemics; to develop vital vaccines and therapeutics quickly and safely, and get them to the people who will need them, wherever they are”.
Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath, President and CEO, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization: “The COVID-19 virus has reinforced the importance of a robust and functional vaccine ecosystem. We’ve witnessed firsthand over the last two years the power of strong collaboration between academia, small and large biotech companies, regulatory officials, and manufacturing sectors – all in record time. Supporting partners like CEPI, along with other NGOs, are crucial to ensuring rapid and equitable access to vaccines on every corner of the globe. We look forward to collaborating with CEPI in their effort to fully replenish funds to boost pandemic preparedness and vaccine access to save lives”.
Steve Bates OBE, Chief Executive, the BioIndustry Association: “The UK’s experience of true partnership working between government, science, academia and industry embodied in the Vaccines Taskforce enabled lightning speed progress in developing vaccines and therapeutics for this pandemic. As the UK hosts this key global event, we both offer our practical expertise in what worked well to colleagues from around the world and seek to learn, partner and prepare better for the future”.
Rajinder Suri, CEO, Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network: “During the past two years we have witnessed an unprecedented global collaboration, advances in science and technology, regulatory flexibilities and manufacturing at risk, which made it possible to develop and roll-out the COVID-19 vaccines in record time. The continued all round presence and support of CEPI right from identification of partners to development, scaling up and scaling out of vaccines has been critical success factor. We at DCVMN strongly believe that Mission 100 Days would turn out to be a pathbreaking step in the preparedness for any future pandemic!”.
See companies’ commitments here.
