Epidemics of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), such as those identified in the World Health Organization (WHO) process termed “An R&D Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics”, are a significant and growing threat to individual life, societies and general prosperity. They are pressing health security issues that the world faces today and in a world with increased urbanization, mobility and ecological change, their potential disruptive impact is increasing.

CEPI – the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations – is a new international non-profit organization that was founded in August 2016 by the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the World Economic Forum, and India’s Department of Biotechnology.

CEPI aims to foster, finance and facilitate vaccine development against epidemic infectious diseases in cases where market incentives alone do not achieve this. In order to achieve its goal, CEPI will initially focus on two priorities: moving development of new vaccines from late preclinical studies to proof-of-principle and safety in humans including small scale stockpiles of vaccine material for large scale efficacy testing in the event of epidemics; and support the development of vaccine technologies and manufacturing capabilities that can be deployed rapidly against outbreaks of known and unexpectedly emerging pathogens.

For more information on CEPI vision, mission, strategic objectives, policies and governance visit http://www.cepi.net/. You can directly access the preliminary business plan 2017-2021 here.