The Call, launched in collaboration with the European Commission, seeks vaccine developers with end-to-end experience and capability for the global supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses in a 12-18-month timeframe.
Built on the principles of speed, scale, and access, CEPI’s COVID-19 vaccine portfolio currently contains nine promising vaccine candidates, with seven already in clinical trials. Through the COVAX pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, we are working with Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO) with the aim to deliver 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021 to end the acute phase of the pandemic.
To achieve this goal, we are expanding and diversifying our portfolio to increase chances of finding a successful vaccine which can be manufactured at scale. This Call for Proposals—an extension of our second COVID-19 vaccine Call for Proposals issued in May 2020 (for which the review process is ongoing)— aims to increase the number of ‘shots on goal’ through supporting the rapid development and large-scale manufacture of promising candidates to ensure global demand can be met as quickly as possible.
The extended Call for Proposals is open until at least 28 September to all types of vaccine development organisations worldwide and we are particularly interested in organisations seeking additional support to expand their COVID-19 vaccine global development plans, having already secured resources for a vaccine candidate for a given COVID-19 target indication or region.
We would like to engage developers with innovative technologies that have already or are soon to be proven, and with a track record of bringing vaccine candidates through development, including licensure and manufacturing. The new Call will also look more favourably on vaccine candidates that, based on field experience to date, have indications that their candidate vaccine is able to offer measurable protection after one dose.
Funding will be provided by CEPI with EUR 100M support towards the research and development aspects, including clinical trials, from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme.
We would be delighted if you could amplify information on the Call and how to apply with your networks (please see here).
You can also find out more about the new funding opportunity on CEPI’s and the EC’s websites.