• Addressing IVI-CEPI collaboration, CEPI’s 100 Days Mission, Korea’s vaccine development efforts to respond to future pandemics.

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and the Coalition for Pandemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) co-hosted the ‘Vaccine Session’ on Day 2 of the World Bio Summit 2023 at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul.

Hosted jointly by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare and the World Health Organization, the World Bio Summit 2023 was convened under the theme “Strengthening Capacities for Pandemic Response: Preparation of Workplace, Business, and Civil Society” to address strategies for the response to infectious disease threats. The two-day annual conference, the second event of its kind, brought together global health, vaccine and bio leaders, including ministers of health, representatives of international organizations including the WHO, Asian Development Bank, CEPI, and FIND, as well as academia and industry.

Session 4 of the Summit, the “Vaccine Session,” explored the theme of ‘Strengthening Global Preparedness through CEPI’s 100 Days Mission,’ covering topics such as collaboration between IVI and CEPI, the 100 Days Mission, contributions from academia, and case studies of collaboration between academia, industry, and enterprises. The session also introduced the work and achievements of the Center for Vaccine Research (CVR) at the Korea National Institute of Health.

The session started with greetings from CEPI’s Director for Programs and Innovative Technology, Dr. In-Kyu Yoon, followed by Kate Kelland, CEPI’s Chief Scientific Writer, who moderated seven presentations and discussions on various topics.

Dr. Jane Halton, Chair of the CEPI Board, addressed the ambitions of the 100 Days Mission, while Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, elaborated on the collaboration between IVI and CEPI. Dr. Gi-Eun Rhie, Director General of the Center for Vaccine Research at NIH (under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency), presented efforts for vaccine development in response to pandemics in Korea.

Following these presentations, Dr. Emanuele Montomoli, President, and CSO of VisMederi (Italy), Mr. Shadiq Akasya, President of Biofarma (Indonesia), Ms. Jin Park, Executive Vice President of SK bioscience (Korea), and Dr. Trent Munro, Professor at the University of Queensland (Australia), shared contributions from industry and academia and case studies from the vaccine field.

This session entailed in-depth discussions on South Korea’s role and potential for enhancing bio (vaccine) production and research and development cooperation in the Asian region, while addressing essential preparations required for the world to cope with the next pandemic.

This September, IVI and CEPI renewed collaboration to accelerate vaccine development. IVI is providing technical services for CEPI’s projects to help accelerate vaccine development against pathogens with epidemic or pandemic potential, and in support of CEPI’s 100 Days Mission, a goal to reduce the time taken to develop safe and effective vaccines.