Context: 

The Serum Institute of India (SII) to join the CEPI network of vaccine producers in the Global South.

Serum Institute Joins CEPI Network For Vaccines Developments

• Aim: To achieve the 100 Days Mission to develop new vaccines against known or novel infectious diseases within three months of a pandemic threat being recognised and provide a more rapid, agile, and equitable response to future disease outbreaks.

Serum Institute Joins CEPI Network: Significance

• Capacity development: CEPI will invest up to $30 million to expand Serum Institute of India’s ability to supply investigational vaccines in the face of epidemic or pandemic risk.
• Transfer of Technology: CEPI-backed vaccine developers can now quickly transfer their technology to SII within days or weeks of an outbreak.
• Enhanced cooperation: Serum Institute of India will also support the development, stockpiling and licensure of new vaccines against CEPI’s priority pathogens.

About CEPI Global Network

• About: It  is an  innovative global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations working together to accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.
• Launch: It was officially launched at the World Economic Forum Summit, Davos in  2017 
• Founders: It was founded by the governments of India and Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome and the World Economic Forum.
• Headquarters:  Oslo, Norway.
• Mission: To accelerate the development of vaccines and other biological countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need.
• Approach: CEPI takes an end-to-end approach, operating as both a funder and a facilitator.
• Focus:  Vaccine development, licensure  and manufacturing  and stockpiling while supporting the efforts of our partners in vaccine discovery and last-mile delivery
• Recognised institutions under CEPI Network: Translational Health Science And Technology Institute (THSTI), it is one of the Global Network of Laboratories for centralized assessment of COVID 19 Vaccines.

Also Read: 

• India’s First Indigenously Developed Hepatitis A Vaccine
• World’s First Vaccine For Chikungunya Approved

News Source: The Hindu