September 9, 2020 - SEOUL, South Korea - The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) announced today that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded close to 1.5 million USD to IVI to support clinical trial site preparedness in four African and Asian countries to potentially support future COVID-19 Phase III efficacy vaccine trials.
Following successful completion of early-stage clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, it will be essential to transition to efficacy trials at different sites around the world with high disease burden, including those in resource-limited settings. To ensure these sites are prepared for efficacy trials with the necessary technical capability, trained staff, sufficient trial participants, and a thorough assessment of prevailing COVID-19 burden, IVI aims to bolster in-country capacity at select sites by 4Q2020.
Dr Florian Marks, Deputy Director General of Epidemiology, Public Health, Impact, and Clinical Development at IVI, said: "The COVID-19 threat is worldwide, which means preparations for the development and delivery of safe and effective vaccines must also be a global project. It is imperative that lack of resources does not equate to exclusion, that COVID-19 vaccines be regarded as global public goods from the outset, and that equal access is ensured. We look forward to working with our long-time partners in Africa and Asia to accelerate the global push toward a COVID-19 vaccine solution."
IVI currently conducts active projects in Africa and Asia, including disease prevention and surveillance for cholera and typhoid in Mozambique and Ghana, respectively, as well as a Phase III clinical trial for a novel typhoid conjugate vaccine in the Philippines. IVI also received funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) this May to strengthen COVID-19 surveillance in Madagascar and Burkina Faso.
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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a nonprofit inter-governmental organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, IVI was the first international organization hosted by Korea. IVI has 36 signatory countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) on its treaty, including Korea, Sweden, India, and Finland as state funders.
Our mandate is to make vaccines available and accessible for the world's most vulnerable people. We focus on infectious diseases of global health importance such as cholera, typhoid, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, Group A Strep, Hepatitis A, HPV, TB, HIV, MERS, COVID-19, as well as antimicrobial resistance. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int
CONTACT
Aerie Em, Global Communications & Media Specialist +82 2 881 1386 | aerie.em@ivi.int