2020 was an unprecedented year in global health. A novel virus spread to all corners of the world, devastating people’s lives, economies, and ways of life, and the scientific community responded with agility and partnership that will inspire vaccine research and development for years to come. We’re grateful to our global collaborators, supporters, and friends for working with us to advance IVI’s mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health—a mission that feels more urgent than ever and will continue to drive our work in the new year.

IVI’s key milestones in 2020

Joining the global effort to accelerate safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines

Read more about our partnership with INOVIO, the Korea National Institute of Health, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) to conduct a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of INOVIO’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate at four sites in South Korea.

Providing critical lab support for COVID-19 pre-clinical studies and clinical trials

In lieu of pursuing its own COVID-19 vaccine, IVI chose to partner with vaccine developers in Korea and globally to accelerate multiple safe and effective vaccines as efficiently as possible. We are conducting early-stage clinical trials, establishing vaccine evaluation systems and developing COVID-19 vaccine adjuvants in addition to epidemiological studies. Read more about our ongoing COVID-19 lab work.

Conducting epidemiological investigations to increase available COVID-19 data

To supplement longer-term epidemiological and clinical studies, IVI will assist with screening and diagnosing suspected COVID-19 cases (including patients presenting with flu-like and other respiratory illness symptoms) at designated healthcare centers as well as conduct a cross-sectional survey of the general population. All activities will be in coordination with national authorities to ensure alignment and sustainable capacity-building. Read more

Improving surveillance and data collection to create sustainable solutions for AMR

Through three separate Fleming Fund Regional Grants, funding provided by the UK government, IVI and partners are working with LMICs across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to identify, evaluate, and create a demand for quality data to advance effective policymaking. Read more

Developing a Chikungunya vaccine to protect millions around the world from a debilitating disease

IVI and Bharat Biotech formed a consortium with support from CEPI to advance a Chikungunya vaccine and generate the necessary safety and immunogenicity data from three endemic countries to support use of this vaccine in outbreaks and routine immunization in endemic countries. Read more

Finland joined IVI

We welcomed Finland as IVI’s 36th member state and fourth funding state, committing core support as well as additional funding to advance IVI’s COVID-19 vaccine research and development. Read more about this new partnership and the flag-raising ceremony at IVI headquarters.

Vi-DT typhoid conjugate vaccine found safe and immunogenic

A new study conducted by IVI in collaboration with SK bioscience shows that single-dose and two-dose regimens of Vi-DT typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) are safe and immunogenic in children 6-23 months of age, a group with high rates of typhoid fever in resource-limited settings. The findings from this study newly published online in The Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine describe the successful completion and analysis of a Phase II clinical trial of Vi-DT six months after vaccination. Read more

Building multilateral cooperation through vaccine diplomacy

IVI hosted a virtual State Forum to advocate for multilateral cooperation through vaccine diplomacy. During a coronavirus pandemic with the continuous threat of more neglected infectious diseases spreading around the world, the forum convened a panel of country ambassadors and vaccine experts to promote partnership and equity in global health. Read more

Preventing and controlling cholera outbreaks with OCV

IVI and South Korea’s Global Disease Eradication Fund (GDEF) agreed to conduct joint projects to fight cholera, which include vaccination for a total of approximately 540,000 people at risk of cholera in Nepal and Mozambique. Read more

Chairman Koo Kwang Mo gifts a generous donation to support COVID-19 vaccine development at IVI

IVI will use the donation to support research into ways to understand how the immune system protects against COVID-19, improve the response to COVID-19 vaccines (as well as other vaccines), increase IVI’s capacity to measure important protective (immune) responses generated by COVID-19 vaccines, and prepare sites around the world where COVID-19 vaccine trials might be conducted. Read more