Policy paper

Joint statement from the UK government, CEPI, IFPMA, ABPI, BIA, BIO and DCVMN on delivering the 100 Days Mission

Published 8 March 2022

Today’s Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit marks a vital step in making possible the 100 Days Mission: the ambition to have safe and effective vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics within 100 days of an epidemic or pandemic threat being identified. If this mission is achieved, it could prevent future pandemics before they start, saving millions of lives. This mission was put forward by the UK under its Presidency of the Group of 7 (G7) in 2021 and has been welcomed by leaders of the G7 and Group of 20 (G20) and backed by representatives of the life sciences industry.  

Close working between the UK government, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the life sciences industry has been critical in the response to COVID-19 and has enabled the development of safe and effective vaccines in unprecedented timeframes. Meeting the 100 Days Mission requires ongoing partnership across the public and private sectors, in addition to other critical enabling factors within the global health architecture, such as improved pathogen surveillance and immediate information, biosample and data sharing. 

We – the UK government, CEPI and the associations representing vaccine manufacturers, as well as the broader biotech and biopharmaceutical industry, commit our support for CEPI’s mission: to support the development of vaccines against emerging infectious disease and enable equitable access to those vaccines during outbreaks. We commit to taking forward specific steps needed to deliver on the 100 Days Mission.   

Specifically: 

1. The UK government aims – in keeping with its Life Sciences Vision published in July 2021 – to deliver a research and development network, accessible to industry, to speed up the development and delivery of novel vaccines. The UK Vaccines Taskforce has been an exemplar of government and industry working together to accelerate vaccine development. 

2. CEPI’s 5-year strategy aims to make the development of vaccines against emerging pathogens within 100 days a reality, because the quicker a safe, effective and globally accessible vaccine is developed and deployed, the quicker an incipient pandemic can be contained and controlled. Achieving the 100 Day Mission, through CEPI’s innovative programme of access-focused research and development, would give the world a fighting chance of defusing the threat of future pathogens with pandemic potential. 

3. Associations representing vaccine manufacturers, as well as the broader biotech and biopharmaceutical industry (ABPI, BIA, BIO and the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) and IFPMA – see the full statement) commit to: 

• investing in research and development on target pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential and to build a portfolio of promising candidate vaccines, treatments and technologies 

• working to reduce manufacturing complexities and developing new manufacturing methods to adapt and quickly expand manufacturing capacity for new vaccines to address future public health emergencies

• producing high-quality evidence, at speed, on the efficacy and safety of our products, both prior to and during pandemic conditions, and maintaining the highest levels of quality and ethical standards, transparency and accountability, therefore contributing to a strengthened global clinical trial infrastructure

The work of the life sciences industry is critical to enabling the 100 Days Mission – in developing new vaccine technology, modernising and increasing vaccine manufacturing, supporting clinical trials infrastructure and collaboration and in enabling equitable access. We welcome the supportive statements by companies to deliver on the recommendations of the 100 Days Mission, set out below this statement.

Signatories of joint statement

The joint signatories of the the statement are:

• Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer, CEPI

• The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Department of Health and Social Care 

• Thomas Cueni, Director General, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) 

• Richard Torbett, Chief Executive, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) 

• Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath, President and CEO, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) 

• Steve Bates OBE, Chief Executive, the BioIndustry Association (BIA) 

• Rajinder Suri, CEO, Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) 

Further individual statements of support from companies 

AstraZeneca  

The story of the vaccine is one of unprecedented collaboration. Our landmark partnership with Oxford University enabled us to pool world-renowned expertise in vaccinology with large scale manufacturing in the very early stages of the pandemic. The result was that through a network of 25 partners, we were able to accelerate production of the vaccine over the course of a few months, a process that normally takes years.

This provides a template for the future and demonstrates the importance of public private investment in creating sustainable regional manufacturing operations as well as the need for a simplified regulatory environment. The pandemic has also spurred phenomenal scientific innovation. At AstraZeneca, alongside the vaccine, we have developed a long-acting antibody COVID-19 therapy to protect vulnerable populations. These COVID-19 medicines form a central part of our new Vaccines and Immune Therapies unit, which is focused on finding ways to address infectious diseases. This unit builds on everything we have learnt from our response to COVID and put us in a strong position to tackle any future pandemics. 

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) 

As a leading global medical technology company, BD is at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. With the coronavirus still impacting the lives of people around the world, BD sees the importance of partnering with public sector partners, including governments and international organizations, to support the current pandemic response and ensure readiness for future threats.

BD will continue to focus on supporting rapid delivery of vaccinations, enhancing infection prevention capabilities, administering rapid and accurate diagnostic tests to identify and treat infections, and leveraging our global manufacturing presence to provide continued access to critical healthcare products worldwide. BD and its teams around the world are committed to helping the global health care community control and defeat this virus and are proud to be an ever-present partner supporting solutions and further innovation for effective and world-class pandemic preparedness.  

Cytiva and Pall Corporation   

In 2021 Cytiva and Pall Corporation announced an investment of $1.5 billion over 2 years to meet growing demand for biotechnology solutions, including vaccines and therapeutics.   

 Besides collaborating with customers to develop processes and technology training, the companies are investing:  

• over $600 million in chromatography resins – for analyzing or purifying biomolecules, including one new site 

• over $400 million in cell culture media – used to grow and cultivate cells before they are purified– expanding operations in the US, UK, and Austria

• over $300 million in single-use technologies – including bioreactor bags for growing cells used to make personalized medicines and syringe filters for scientific research – expanding operations in the US and the UK, as well as fitting out a new facility in Cardiff, Wales 

• over $200 million for continuing expansion work in Cytiva and Pall Corporation’s sites in China and Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the US  

GSK 

GSK has advocated for CEPI since its inception in 2017 and we continue to support CEPI. 

GSK was an active contributor to the UK G7 Pandemic Preparedness Partnership (PPP) and 100-days mission.   

GSK has maintained pandemic readiness with our supply of pandemic adjuvanted influenza vaccines and activated our adjuvant supply for coronavirus partnerships. We are in the final stages with several partners, including Medicago, Sanofi and CEPI supported SK Bioscience, on the development and licensure of 3 protein-based COVID-19 vaccines using GSK’s pandemic adjuvant.  In addition, our monoclonal antibody sotrivimab, developed with Vir, was approved under EUA in 2021.   

We intend to extend our pandemic readiness with a broad array of technologies. We will also look to support skills development and R&D programs in Africa by leveraging our global health partnerships and longstanding experience in manufacturing and clinical research in Africa, notably our Malaria and TB vaccine trials and phase IV collaborations in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Johnson & Johnson   

Johnson & Johnson strongly supports the goals of the UK’s Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit and the ambitions of the 100 Days Mission. Over the past 25 years we have made substantial investments in cutting-edge R&D capabilities and platform technologies to bring forward vaccines and therapeutics that help prevent disease, save lives, and combat epidemics, as shown by our accelerated Ebola and COVID-19 vaccine programmes. We have supported CEPI since its inception and look forward to continuing our work together.

Effective collaboration is central to improved global health security and the successful protection of vulnerable communities from urgent threats like COVID-19 and persistent challenges, like HIV and tuberculosis. These collaborations should be the new normal and support improvements in R&D, clinical trials infrastructure, global regulatory frameworks, and digital technologies. As manufacturing capacity expands, life-course immunisation will be a vital component of improved readiness to maintain vaccine production between pandemics that will be the basis for scale-up in an emergency. We are committed to a world in which epidemics and pandemics no longer threaten humanity.  

Moderna 

Moderna is announcing its global public health strategy through 2 new initiatives aimed at advancing mRNA vaccines for the prevention of infectious diseases, which support the ethos of the 100 Days Mission. 

First, Moderna is announcing a commitment to expand its global public health portfolio to 15 vaccine programs targeting priority pathogens identified by WHO and CEPI that threaten global health, advancing these vaccines into clinical studies by 2025. Second, to accelerate research with the aim of advancing additional vaccines, Moderna is launching a new program, mRNA Access, a new collaborative that will offer researchers around the world the use of Moderna’s mRNA technology to explore new vaccines against emerging or neglected infectious disease in their own labs. 

Novo Nordisk Foundation 

Strengthening epidemic preparedness is a key pillar in the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s (NNF) forthcoming 2030 strategy. A broad portfolio of translational research activities are envisaged, and initial mission-driven initiatives will focus on developing new anti-viral drugs, or new vaccines against viral and bacterial targets. With regards to the latter, the NNF has recently begun developing plans for a Center for Infectious Disease Research and Vaccine Design in Denmark.

The ambition for this initiative is to establish a critical mass that conducts discovery, translational research and clinical trials on vaccines against diverse respiratory pathogens that have epidemic potential or promote the spread of anti-microbial resistance.

Novavax 

As a science-driven organization focused solely on creating innovative vaccines for serious infectious diseases, Novavax is committed to delivering our COVID-19 vaccine globally where it is needed while being prepared to respond to future outbreaks.  

With our many global partners and collaborators, we achieved remarkable progress to develop a differentiated, protein-based vaccine option, demonstrate efficacy in multiple clinical trials and create a global manufacturing network that is delivering an additional vaccine choice worldwide in the fight against the pandemic. We have worked diligently to create broad access to our vaccine through multiple authorizations and WHO Emergency Use Listing. We will also continue to build on our robust body of clinical evidence to support expanded indications and increased access for use across primary vaccinations, boosters and pediatric populations. 

Novavax is proud to collaborate closely with Gavi and our global partners to optimize supply for the COVAX Facility and are committed to achieving our shared goal of equitable access.

Oxford Nanopore   

Oxford Nanopore has proudly supported public health scientists around the world to use nanopore sequencing to perform real time surveillance during the COVID pandemic. We are committed to continuing to support these networks to provide rapid, accessible tools to prevent the next outbreaks from developing into pandemics. These scientific communities are delivering ground-breaking work to tackle local public health challenges, as well as global issues such as the current increase in drug-resistant pathogens.  

Pfizer  

The pandemic taught us that we can accomplish great things when we are united by a common purpose. The virus knows no geographic borders. It doesn’t discriminate based on race, religion, gender, financial condition or political affiliation. So, to defeat it, we need to be united.  

That’s why we forged partnerships with industry peers, health authorities and experts around the world as we worked to protect the health and safety of our communities, and to find medical and scientific solutions to this crisis.  

The dedication and accomplishments of our scientists and our partners in both the private and public sectors are nothing short of inspiring. We are all forever changed by what the crisis has demanded from each of us, and we look forward to continued collaborations with stakeholders across the global healthcare ecosystem as we work to help the world be better prepared for the next global health crisis. We believe this sense of purpose, spirit of collaboration, degree of confidence and deeper pride in our work will extend well beyond the pandemic as we serve the needs of patients around the world. 

RD Therapeutics  

RD Therapeutics actively supports the 100 Days Mission and CEPI’s agenda. We are fully committed to enabling equitable access to vaccines through the development and commercialisation of a temperature and humidity-stable, oral delivery platform (QuickStrip^TM) for vaccines. The goals of the QuickStrip^TM platform are to decrease time to market, increase reach, eliminate the need for medical professional administration and cold-chain transportation (reducing CO2 emissions), and enhance ease of use, hence making mass distribution quicker and more efficient.

The RDT development program focuses on incorporating late-stage or approved vaccines using LNP mRNA, viral vector, or alternatives, into our proprietary delivery platform. QuickStrip^TM manufacturing will begin in Phase 2 for new vaccines and a cohort of subjects in Phase 3 will provide the additional efficacy data for required rapid roll-out to key geographic regions. Our approach will eliminate the non-clinical testing requirements of a new vaccine, expediting availability to significantly enhance market penetration and cover unmet medical needs in developing countries – a critical element in controlling or preventing a global pandemic. 

Sanofi 

Sanofi commits to playing an important role in responding to future pandemics via 3 key levers.

First, innovation through investment in state-of-the-art mRNA technology with the launch of Centers of Excellence to accelerate end-to-end R&D of next-generation vaccines and drive a new era of response capability.  Second, taking our diversified industrial footprint to the next level through Evolutive Vaccine Facilities that are setting a new standard for biologics manufacturing flexibility and speed.  Third, public – private partnership excellence in respiratory disease surveillance through the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network, over 100 hospitals in 20 countries collecting and sharing clinical, virological and virus genome sequencing data. Leveraging existing domestic assets and artificial intelligence expertise, this resilient network is set to expand for pandemic preparedness.

A reminder for all:  success of a pandemic response through these investments requires unencumbered access to pathogens to be able to be prepared and respond.   

Touchlight  

Touchlight, based in London, UK, is the world’s leading manufacturer of synthetic DNA. The company’s dbDNA technology is able to produce DNA with unprecedented speed and scale. As such, Touchlight is supplying major mRNA and DNA vaccine manufacturers with rapid GMP DNA materials to support vaccine development, and is uniquely positioned to support pandemic response due to the speed at which its dbDNA can be manufactured at scale. Touchlight is building the world’s largest DNA manufacturing facility, by capacity, in Hampton, West London.