CEPI statement on the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement

CEPI statement on the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement:

CEPI commends the commitment of countries and negotiators to advancing this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make the world a safer place. By their nature, pandemics can only be effectively tackled through international cooperation and the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement represents an historic step forward in this regard. It seeks to drive systemic change that will address the inequity that characterized the response to COVID-19 and brings us closer to realising the 100 Days Mission goal to respond to future pandemic threats with a new vaccine in just three months.  

CEPI stands ready to support the implementation of the Pandemic Agreement, including: 

• Requirements for publicly-funded R&D to include equitable access obligations—such as affordable pricing terms, technology transfer, information sharing,
• Commitments to support sustainable and geographically distributed production facilities with the capability to scale up for rapid response in a health emergency,
• The establishment of a multilateral pathogen benefits sharing system that supports rapid and efficient sharing of samples and data on pathogens with pandemic potential to expedite R&D for medical countermeasures. This, together with a global supply chain and logistics network, will help to strengthen research and innovation and support global access to medical countermeasures based on public health need rather than ability to pay.  

While we celebrate today’s achievement, we must also recognise that the Agreement on its own will not deliver the level of pandemic preparedness the world urgently needs.  

It will take sustained investment, enduring political commitment and unprecedented scientific collaboration to create the systemic change needed to protect not just our own generation, but generations to come.