Gavi partners Bavarian Nordic to supply 500k mpox vaccines to Africa

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) has secured 500,000 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine from Bavarian Nordic to combat the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa.

This comes after the vaccine received prequalification from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on September 13, 2024.

In a statemen on Wednesday, Gavi announced that the vaccines, funded through its first response fund, will be delivered this year.

The agreement awaits finalisation of a supply contract with UNICEF, which will handle the distribution.

“Bavarian Nordic will be ready to supply the vaccines pending the signing of a supply agreement with UNICEF, Gavi’s alliance partner, which will be delivering these doses,” the statement reads.

Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, highlighted the importance of the first response fund, noting that it was designed to provide rapid support during public health emergencies such as mpox.

“Using it today to fund the first direct transaction for vaccines in support of equitable access and the global response, just over a month since mpox was declared a public health emergency, takes us a long way towards our goal of protecting those most at risk,” she said.

“We are committed to working with affected governments and our partners to turn these vaccines into vaccinations as quickly and effectively as possible and, over time, to build a global vaccine stockpile if sufficient funding is secured for Gavi’s work through 2030. We thank our donors for enabling us to act rapidly by committing funds to the First Response Fund before an emergency occurred.”

Paul Chaplin, president and CEO of Bavarian Nordic, expressed his company’s commitment to the initiative, noting the impact the vaccines will have in the fight against mpox across Africa.

“The doses secured through this agreement will significantly increase the availability of mpox vaccines for African countries, and we are pleased that Gavi has selected our MVA-BN vaccine, which has proven highly effective during the global mpox outbreak in 2022,” Chaplin said.

Looking to the future, Gavi is exploring long-term measures, including building a sustainable vaccine manufacturing industry in Africa through the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, launched in June 2024.

The alliance said the creation of a global vaccine stockpile for future mpox outbreaks is also on the table, depending on donor funding.