In September 2024, Gavi and Bavarian Nordic announced an advance purchase agreement (APA) to secure 500,000 doses of MVA-BN mpox vaccine to be supplied to countries in Africa that are affected by the mpox outbreak. The doses are funded by Gavi’s First Response Fund and are for delivery in 2024. Bavarian Nordic will be ready to supply the vaccine doses after a supply agreement has been signed with UNICEF, which will deliver the doses.
The First Response Fund
Gavi’s First Response Fund was established in June 2024 to “make cash rapidly available” for the purchase of vaccines in health emergencies. It is available to Gavi-eligible countries in the early days of a pandemic or major health emergency. The Fund pre-positions up to US$500 million of surge financing for vaccine procurement ‘at risk’, which means funds are used to secure doses and “Gavi’s place in the queue” while manufacturers complete the final steps of regulatory approval and manufacturing scale-up.
Dr Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s CEO, commented that the First Response Fund was designed in collaboration with donors and partners “specifically to provide rapid early funding for 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.”
Dr Nishtar thanked donors for enabling Gavi to “act rapidly” by committing funds before an emergency occurred.
“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.”
Paul Chaplin, President and CEO of Bavarian Nordic, is pleased to sign the agreement and “strengthen our commitment to support Gavi and other global health partners” who demonstrate “strong leadership”.
“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.”
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