CEPI 3.0 cross-cutting themes explained: Biosecurity

CEPI 3.0 is guided by three core priorities: vaccines and viral families, platform technologies and networks. Across these priorities, the strategy is underpinned by cross-cutting themes: innovation, including responsible use of AI; a foundational commitment to equitable access; regional partnerships; and biosecurity. These themes shape how we design programmes, select partners and measure success.

For this explainer, we spoke with CEPI's biosecurity team to unpack what this element means and the role it'll play in delivering CEPI 3.0 and the 100 Days Mission.

How does biosecurity shape how CEPI approaches its work across CEPI 3.0 and the 100 Days Mission?

To achieve the 100 Days Mission, we have to move fast, and a critical ingredient for moving fast is operating from the same rulebook, no matter where the outbreak emerges or whether it arises naturally, accidentally or deliberately. Biosecurity considerations run throughout the 100 Days Mission pathway, from laboratories developing and testing preclinical candidates, to teams evaluating early-stage clinical candidates, to the collection, testing, transfer and storage of specimens during clinical trials. A big part of our work is defining those rules before an emergency so research can move quickly and safely.

As a funder of research involving high-consequence pathogens, CEPI must also ensure the work it supports does not create new risks.

What lessons from previous outbreaks convinced CEPI that biosecurity needs to be built in from the beginning?

During COVID-19, we saw that labs with stronger biorisk management were able to pivot quickly because they already had the necessary practices in place. That saved precious time and helped generate evidence needed to respond to the outbreak. The lesson for CEPI is clear: these capabilities cannot be built in the middle of a crisis--they must be established in advance.  

That’s why CEPI takes a proactive approach to managing research risks and building readiness before a crisis. We call this biosecurity resilience. It means ensuring that labs, systems and partnerships remain capable of supporting critical research during a future outbreak. That includes reducing single points of failure and building the capacity to continue essential research swiftly even when systems are stressed, without compromising safety and security.

What role does biosecurity play in turning the 100 Days Mission into reality?

It builds safety, security, and readiness into the full R&D pathway from the outset, rather than adding them during a crisis. That means strengthening partner capabilities, setting clear and proportionate expectations, and helping research move quickly and responsibly wherever the next outbreak emerges. 

In practice, this includes equipment, training, guidance and risk management support. The aim is not to slow the Mission down, but to enable conditions that allow urgent vaccine development to proceed rapidly, safely, securely and with confidence.

It also means building partnerships beyond health. Biological threats can arise naturally, accidentally or deliberately, and 100 Days Mission capabilities help address all three. CEPI is therefore working with security and defence partners to ensure these capabilities are understood and ready to be used when needed. Historically, there has been limited recognition within security and defence communities of the role that 100 Days Mission capabilities can play in addressing deliberate biological threats. CEPI is working to build those bridges and bring together the four communities essential to achieving the 100 Days Mission: health, research, defence and development. 

Why is biosecurity particularly important when preparing for a Disease X pathogen?

At the heart of the 100 Days Mission is the viral family approach, which involves intensively researching viral families, so we are prepared for a future Disease X. That includes using what we already know at the family level to anticipate the biosecurity and biosafety measures likely needed for a novel pathogen of a given viral family. Building strong competencies for biorisk identification, assessment and mitigation is therefore fundamental to both biosecurity resilience and the 100 Days Mission. 

What are some practical examples of how biosecurity influences decisions, investments and partnerships?

The aim is to embed biosecurity and biosafety across the full range of CEPI’s responsibilities as a funder: when setting research priorities, including which viral families to focus on; during pre-award process, so we have confidence we're funding research where the benefits of the proposed research outweigh the risks; and throughout implementation, so emerging risks can be identified and managed as work evolves. 

Equity is central to this approach. CEPI supports partners to establish risk-based biosecurity and biosafety capabilities so high-quality research can be conducted swiftly, safely and securely in all settings.

By the end of CEPI 3.0, what would success look like for biosecurity?

Success means biosecurity and biosafety are embedded across the 100 Days Mission, in ways that enable safe, secure and rapid R&D and manufacturing. Across viral families, it means partners can consistently identify risks and mitigate them across a wide range of resource settings. For platform technologies, it means platforms are safe, secure and ready to activate against any emerging viral threat regardless of origin. For networks, it means resilient partners working with urgency across the system, from early warning and vaccine design through testing, regulatory pathways, and, ultimately, biomanufacturing at population scale. 

Above all, success means bringing together health, research, defence and development communities to operationalise the 100 Days Mission safely and securely.