The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a partnership to prevent global epidemics with new vaccines, launched Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Here are five things to know about the partnership.
1. Government officials in Germany, Japan and Norway, along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, have initially invested $460 million in the global coalition, according to a news release. The $460 million represents nearly half of the $1 billion CEPI needs for its first five years, the release states.
2. CEPI said it aims to develop vaccines against known infectious disease threats that could could help contain outbreaks, before they turn into global health emergencies.
3. CEPI said it will initially target the MERS-CoV, Lassa and Nipah viruses, and aims to develop vaccine candidates against each of these diseases. It will also look at potential support for vaccines against multiple strains of the Ebola and Marburg viruses, and Zika, the coalition said.
4. CEPI now seeks proposals from researchers and companies worldwide to support the development of vaccines against its first target diseases, according to the release. At present, India government officials are finalizing a funding commitment to CEPI, the release states.
5. CEPI said it is also backed by major pharmaceutical corporations, the World Health Organization and Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders, as well as philanthropies and leading academic vaccine research groups.