CEPI and PAHO expand partnership to strengthen regulatory systems and vaccine safety across the Americas 

April 14, 2026; OSLO; WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have expanded their collaboration through a series of new cooperation agreements to strengthen regulatory systems and pharmacovigilance programs across Latin America and the Caribbean, supporting faster, safer, and more equitable access to vaccines, with a focus on public health emergencies.

The partnership will support more agile and aligned regulatory pathways, enabling countries to expedite the evaluation and approval of vaccines during outbreaks while ensuring their safety, oversight and active monitoring. Activities will include establishing convergence and reliance-based regulatory actions, identifying and addressing workforce training, and expanding collaboration among national regulatory authorities to support faster, coordinated decision-making. 

In parallel, strengthened pharmacovigilance systems will enhance the region’s ability to monitor vaccine safety. By improving signal detection, benefit-risk assessments, and evidence-based policy-making, these efforts will foster public trust and ensure the seamless deployment of vaccines during health emergencies. 

CEPI will provide up to $1 million over 12 months to support regulatory capacity strengthening, and up to $3 million over 24 months to enhance pharmacovigilance programs and strategies. The agreements build on a broader five-year Memorandum of Understanding, signed in 2024, and reflect the progressive implementation of multiple cooperation agreements under this framework, supporting the strengthening of regulatory systems in preparation for emergencies and for new vaccine development in the Americas.

Dr Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer of CEPI, said: “Strong regulatory and pharmacovigilance systems are essential to enabling rapid and equitable access to vaccines during outbreaks. Through our partnership with PAHO, CEPI is supporting countries across the Americas to strengthen these critical capabilities — helping to ensure vaccines can be developed, assessed, delivered and safely managed at speed when they are needed most.” 

Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), said: “The COVID‑19 pandemic demonstrated that regional health security depends on strong regulatory frameworks and timely local manufacturing. We welcome this partnership,  which will support PAHO’s work to ensure that countries in the Region are better equipped to act quickly, collectively and equitably in the face of health emergencies.”  

The new agreements build on ongoing collaboration between CEPI and PAHO, including a $458,000 agreement signed in November 2025 to support AI-enabled clinical intelligence platform development and clinical trials capacity. Both organisations work closely in CEPI’s Global South Leaders in Epidemic Analytics and Response Network (GS LEARN), a multi‑regional network that aims to strengthen epidemic and pandemic analytics leadership within Global South institutions to enable locally led, evidence‑based decision‑making for outbreak preparedness and response.  

The partnership also supports the execution of PAHO’s 2026-2031 strategic plan and is aligned with CEPI’s 100 Days Mission—a goal to accelerate the development of safe and effective vaccines in response to a pandemic threat to within 100 days.  

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Notes to Editors  

About CEPI 

CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. Central to CEPI’s pandemic-beating plan is the ‘100 Days Mission’ – its goal to develop safe, effective and accessible vaccines against new threats in just 100 days. CEPI is seeking $2.5 billion to execute CEPI 3.0, its 2027-2031 strategy, which will systematically reduce the likelihood, impact and cost of epidemics and pandemics by driving the 100 Days Mission towards an operational reality. Learn more at CEPI.net.   

About PAHO 

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) works with the countries of the Americas to improve the health and quality of life of its population. Founded in 1902, it is the world’s oldest international public health agency. It serves as the Regional Office of WHO for the Americas and is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American system (OAS). www.paho.org