CVR - Coronavirus Vaccines R&D Roadmap

Milestone
5.3.a

Equitable manufacturing distribution

In progress

Establish a framework for equitable distribution for vaccine manufacturing for vaccines against coronaviruses and other pathogens with pandemic potential. 

Progress Highlights

The Africa CDC launched the Platform for Harmonized African Health Products Manufacturing (PHAHM), with the goal of aligning Regional Economic Community (REC) pooled procurement with the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM) and a shared digital information platform to overcome fragmented markets, stabilize supply, localize production, and enable equitable distribution in future pandemics.

In 2024, the Regionalized Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC), initiated by the World Economic Forum, was launched as a global platform to coordinate and expand global vaccine production and equitable access. RVMC is now hosted by CEPI with global partnerships including Africa CDC, PAHO, and the US National Academy of Medicine.

The Health Products Manufacturing Support Platform (HMSP), a partnership of UNITAID, the African Union Development Agency, and WHO’s Local Production and Assistance Unit, advances regional manufacturing and equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics in Africa through technical assistance, capacity building, and funding related to technology, management, operational skills, regulatory systems, and linkages to capital. 

At the 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit, leaders adopted the G7 Hiroshima Vision for Fair Access to Medical Countermeasures (covering vaccines, drugs, and CBRN antidotes) and launched the Medical Countermeasures Delivery Partnership to ensure equitable, inclusive, efficient, affordable, high-quality, accountable, agile, and rapid access worldwide.

The Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) established eight continent-wide programs that include initiatives for pooled procurement, regulatory strengthening and convergence, technology transfer, intellectual property brokering, financing, R&D coordination, regional capacity hubs, and enabling trade policies, with a goal to reach 60% local vaccine production by 2040 and ensure equitable, timely access to pandemic vaccines across Africa.

Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, supported by WHO and the WHO Academy, established the Global Bio Manufacturing Workforce Training Initiative. Administered by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), the program offers intensive online and offline courses on biologics development and manufacturing, GxP training, and onsite support to build practical global capacity, including in LMICs.

The World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement in May 2025. Article 10 of the agreement aims at the goal of addressing geographic distribution; articles 11 and 12 address potential pathways for increasing distribution.

The African Union Roadmap to 2030 includes content focusing on equitable access to vaccines, including efforts to strengthen self-reliance through expanded local vaccine manufacturing and financing.

In 2024, the Assembly of the African Union held a session: "Sustainable vaccine manufacturing through end-to-end vaccine research and development projects in Africa.” A major focus was advancing an end-to-end, Africa-led manufacturing ecosystem (AVEC Africa) aligned with PAVM, establishing a continent-level pooled procurement mechanism, broadening PAVM to include medicines and diagnostics, and mobilizing the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator ($1 billion from Gavi) and political leadership, to translate capacity building into equitable vaccine access during outbreaks. 

UNITAID issued a briefing note in October 2023: “Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response: access is not an afterthought."

CEPI established its commitment to equitable access to vaccine policy through a vision, policy, committee, and framework.