CEPI and SK bioscience partner to advance mRNA vaccine technology to build vaccine library, enable rapid response against Disease X

October 25, 2022; OSLO: CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and SK bioscience today announced a new partnership agreement to advance the development of mRNA-based vaccine technologies to facilitate rapid response to unknown pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential (also referred to as Disease X). CEPI will provide up to US$40 million in initial funding to support the development of mRNA-vaccine candidates against Lassa Fever virus (viral family: Arenaviridae) and Japanese Encephalitis virus (Flaviviridae). The funding will support preclinical studies through to phase 1/2 trials. Pending results of these studies, a further $100 million in funding could be made available to support late-stage trials/licensure to further validate the mRNA platform and have it ready for use in outbreak situations. This partnership is the first such agreement to be announced under CEPI's call for proposals, launched in January, 2022, to develop RNA vaccine platform technologies and support development of a vaccine library against emerging and specific endemic infectious diseases. Creating a "vaccine library" ready to use against Disease X It is possible to develop prototype vaccines against different virus families that infect humans. These prototype vaccines can be based on rapid response platforms, such as mRNA, which can be adapted in a matter of weeks once a new virus has been identified. CEPI aims to form a 'library' of vaccine candidates that are ready to be pulled off the shelf and swiftly adapted next time Disease X emerges. That way, valuable time is not lost creating a new vaccine from scratch when a new viral threat emerges.