Supported by CEPI funding of up to $ 1.5 million over three years, researchers at Norway’s University of Bergen will maintain an up-to-date overview of every vaccine candidate being developed around the globe for CEPI’s priority pathogens as well as other emerging viral threats identified by CEPI. This comprehensive mapping of the infectious disease vaccine pipeline will help CEPI to monitor and evaluate global R&D progress, and to spot gaps and opportunities to enhance its own portfolio of vaccines.

“Access to comprehensive data about the global vaccine development landscape is vital to the success of CEPI’s mission”, says CEPI’s Technical Office Lead Stig Tollefsen. “This new partnership with the University of Bergen will provide CEPI with greater visibility of the vaccine R&D pipeline around the world and help us to make well-informed choices when selecting and investing in new vaccine candidates and technologies.”

Prof. Rebecca Cox at the University of Bergen says that “the recent COVID-19 and influenza pandemics have shown us that our ability to rapidly develop, and deploy vaccines is critical for global health security. As new epidemic threats emerge, understanding where and how to invest in vaccine research and development is vital and we are delighted to partner with CEPI to conduct this important work for future pandemic preparedness.”

The University of Bergen has been spearheading research into influenza and coronavirus vaccines for many years, generating data that inform the global health community. The CEPI-funded research will build upon the existing expertise of the Bergen scientists to expand the mapping of vaccine landscapes for the most relevant pathogens with epidemic or pandemic potential. The results will be published in open access journals for the benefit of the global scientific community.