- Vaccine scientists, policymakers, industry experts from around the world to join the biennial forum on vaccine and immunization research
- IVI co-organizes 5th gathering co-hosted by WHO, US NIAID, Gates Foundation on March 28 – 30
Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), will give a keynote speech at the 2023 Global Vaccine and Immunization Research Forum (GVIRF), which takes place in Incheon, South Korea on March 28 – 30. Dr. Kim will address his keynote entitled ’Translating pandemic R&D learnings into the broader global health agenda’ on March 29 to help guide the global vaccine community to better prepare for future pandemics.
IVI, the South Korea-based international organization devoted to vaccines, is co-organizing this year’s GVIRF, which is co-hosted every other year by WHO, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The forum is the “central discussion platform of all research and innovation aspects related to the Immunization Agenda 2030,” WHO’s ambitious global vision and strategy for vaccines and immunization for 2021–2030, and specifically Strategic Priority 7 on ‘research and innovation’ of this charter, according to the co-hosts.
The forum brings together more than 440 vaccine experts and researchers (including 200 from Korea) from public health, academia, government, industry and civil society around the world. Dr. B.F. (Lee) Hall from the NIAID Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Dr. Youngmee Jee, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency will deliver opening and welcome remarks at the plenary on March 28.
The two and a half-day GVIRF conference aims to ‘track progress and discuss obstacles related to priority vaccine research and development; identify gaps, opportunities and actions for the research and development (R&D) community in the areas of vaccines and immunization; create an opportunity for networking and collaboration among the vaccine R&D and immunization communities; and review progress made towards the IA2030 SP7 research and development strategic objectives and goals.’
“IVI is pleased to serve as a co-organizer of this year’s GVIRF that is taking place in Korea. IVI’s partnership with Korea is exemplary for our partnerships with countries and organizations around the world. Korea has been the host, a key partner and generous supporter to IVI throughout our history,” Dr. Jerome Kim said. “As an international organization devoted to vaccines for global public health, IVI is committed to collaborating and synergizing with countries and GVIRF partners worldwide to accelerate discovery, development, delivery and local manufacturing of vaccines and help address vaccine inequity.”
The forum includes a series of workshops on vaccine and immunization research, including Workshop 5 entitled “Vaccine development strategies at the intersection of market model, value drivers, and access policy.” This workshop will feature presentations and discussions by leading Korean vaccine companies and organizations including the Research Investment for Global Health Technology (RIGHT) Foundation, SK bioscience and EuBiologics.
The event convenes in Korea at an opportune time. Korean companies have been driving innovation in the development and delivery of vaccines for global public health in recent years. Last December, EuBiologics marked the 100 million-dose shipment to WHO’s stockpile of its Euvichol® and Euvichol-Plus®, an innovative plastic tube presentation of the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine that was developed by IVI and that constitutes the central pillar in the global fight against cholera. In 2022, SK bioscience achieved the licensure of a novel Vi-DT typhoid conjugate vaccine that was developed in collaboration with IVI, as well as Korea’s first COVID-19 vaccine.
IVI made pivotal contributions to the COVID-19 vaccine’s licensure by coordinating global clinical trials of this vaccine with support from CEPI and performing clinical sample analysis jointly with KDCA. IVI, in collaboration with the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and WHO, also conducted the first-year courses of biomanufacturing training in 2022 to help low- and middle-income countries strengthen their capacities in local manufacturing of vaccines and biological products and is currently recruiting trainees for a second-year program. This has come after Korea was designated by WHO as a global training hub for biomanufacturing in February 2022.
As the world combatted COVID-19, IVI’s strategy was to work with multiple groups in Korea and worldwide to enable and accelerate vaccine development across the entire spectrum to get this critical technology into global distribution. IVI’s partners in these efforts have committed over 1 billion doses to COVAX. IVI also contributed to the 2018 establishment of the RIGHT Foundation that is supporting the development of vaccines, diagnostics and drugs for global health with funding pooled by the Korean MOHW, the Gates Foundation, and Korea’s leading biotech firms.
In order to better inform the global vaccine research community about IVI’s work and achievements and explore partnership opportunities, IVI is inviting about 100 GVIRF attendees to visit the institute through an ‘Excursion to IVI’ on March 30. The visit will entail introductions to different IVI units, a guided tour to laboratories, and a networking dinner.
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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health.
IVI’s current portfolio includes vaccines at all stages of pre-clinical and clinical development for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, such as cholera, typhoid, chikungunya, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, HPV, COVID-19, and more. IVI developed the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine, pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO), and developed a new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccine that is currently under assessment for WHO PQ.
IVI is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea with a Europe Regional Office in Sweden and Collaborating Centers in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. 39 countries and the WHO are members of IVI, and the governments of the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, and Finland provide state funding. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int.
CONTACT
Aerie Em, Global Communications & Media Specialist
+82 2 881 1386 | aerie.em@ivi.int