In July 2024 the Regionalised Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC) shared its strategy for 2024-2027, launched by Dr Frederik Kristensen, Inaugural Managing Director. Dr Kristensen states that the strategy comes at a time of “considerable interest and activity around regional vaccine manufacturing”.
“Spurred on by the deep inequities in vaccine access experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the past two years have seen a surge in public and private investments in regionalised vaccine manufacturing.”
The strategy suggests that regional consolidation will achieve the necessary scale of “demand, investment, and capability” to “maintain viable and sustainable vaccine production”.
RVMC
RVMC was launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the US National Academies of Medicine (NAM), and CEPI in 2022 with the goal of tackling the “glaring inequities within the global vaccine production ecosystem”. Its vision is a “world where vaccine equity and health security are created for countries in all regions”, which can be realised through the establishment of regional vaccine manufacturing and supply chain networks that can produce vaccines for routine use in a “sustainable manner”, with outbreak readiness.
The first phase of RVMC was focused on building a robust partner community, fostering regional collaboration, and developing the RVMC Framework. The Framework outlines eight pillars for a sustainable vaccine manufacturing ecosystem:
- Business archetypes
- Healthy markets
- Financial models
- R&D and manufacturing innovation
- Technology transfer and workforce development
- Supply chain and infrastructure
- Product regulation
- Policy and governance
In January 2024 the founding parties confirmed the continuation of RVMC for the coming three years, with support from key partners such as PAHO and Africa CDC. For this phase, RVMC is seeking to create value by:
- Advocating for regionalised manufacturing
- Aligning key initiatives
- Advising on approaches
- Accounting for progress
Advocating for change
RVMC will “make the case” for regionalised vaccine manufacturing, setting out a global vision for the “regionalisation agenda” and enabling others to “define and implement their regional approach”. It will build consensus around what regionalised vaccine manufacturing means and establish policy positions and access to data. Raising awareness and engagement with a global vision will “foster a common approach” between partners. This step will be facilitated by “thought leadership and evidence generation”.
Aligning partners for impact
Discussions will be held within and between regions and stakeholders, with RVMC working to align projects to “common objectives and regional priorities”. The strategy highlights the importance of “convening partners around a unified vision” to ensure that available resources are used efficiently, and in a “coordinated and coherent manner”.
“Better coordination should generate more impact and encourage further investment in the regionalisation agenda, therby improving the economic sustainability of vaccine manufacturing. Independent convening, matchmaking, and facilitating dialogue will be key enablers of this work.”
Advising on sustainable approaches
Independent trusted advice will be offered to stakeholders by RVMC, with a focus on expanding the “fact base” for current global and regional capacity, capabilities, and coverage. This element will “champion existing data providers” and identify data gaps. For example, it is currently “not clear” what manufacturing capacity is already in place, and what additional resources will be needed to make regionalised manufacturing a reality. Thus, publishing this position with perspectives on what is needed will support manufacturers who are trying to develop viable business models, funders hoping to support regional supply chains, and stakeholders working on the creation of healthy markets.
Accounting for progress
Following the Framework, RVMC will “observe and report on progress” across the eight pillars. This will enable all stakeholders to “see the whole picture” and the Secretariat to identify areas of need. It also feeds into the ongoing Advocacy role and could provide insights and encouragement for attracting sustainable investment.
The perfect opportunity
Dr Kristensen believes that RVMC is “uniquely suited” to providing stakeholders with the support they need; it is “fully dedicated to the vaccine regionalisation agenda” and is “intentionally positioned between regions and between global and regional bodies”.
“We’ve never had a better chance to advance vaccine equity and health security for all than now, and through our 2024-2027 strategy we’re committed to working with all partners to create regional vaccine manufacturing as a core element to deliver this.”
We’re looking forward to exploring regional vaccine manufacturing at the Congress in Barcelona this October in a panel on regional capacity and resilient systems. Get your tickets to join us here, and don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletters here.
