To combat the spread of Mpox in Africa, a strategic initiative was announced by the Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, and Bavarian Nordic on Wednesday.
The collaboration resulted in the establishment of an Advance Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of 500,000 doses of the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) mpox vaccine.
These doses are intended for countries in Africa that have been impacted by the outbreak of the disease.
The delivery of these doses is slated for the year 2024, as indicated in a press release by Gavi. The funding for these vaccines will be sourced from Gavi’s First Response Fund, a recently developed financial mechanism designed to swiftly address vaccine procurement needs during health crises.
As of the conclusion of week 35 in 2024, a total of 26,544 Mpox cases have been documented, with 5,732 confirmed cases and 724 resulting in fatalities across 15 African Union Member States spread across all five African regions, reported by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The MVA-BN vaccine has received prequalification from the World Health Organization on September 13. Bavarian Nordic is prepared to supply the vaccines pending the finalization of a supply agreement with UNICEF, Gavi’s partnering organization responsible for the distribution of these doses.
“The First Response Fund was designed in collaboration with Gavi 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 toward our goal of protecting those most at risk.
“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,” said Dr Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive Officer of Gavi.
Paul Chaplin, President & CEO of Bavarian Nordic, said, “We are pleased to sign this agreement and strengthen our commitment to support Gavi and other global health partners, who have demonstrated strong leadership in making life-saving vaccines available for vulnerable populations in developing countries for decades.
“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.”
Additionally , to activate the First Response Fund, approved by the Gavi Board in June, Gavi moved swiftly to trigger the mechanism following the declaration of mpox as a public health emergency. It unlocked emergency funding for affected countries to begin preparations for vaccine rollout, such as training healthcare workers and engaging with communities and is working with donors and partners to facilitate dose donations.
“Medium- and longer-term measures that are expected to support the mpox response include authorisation from Gavi’s Board, contingent on donor funding for Gavi’s next strategic period, to establish a stockpile of mpox vaccines for use in future outbreaks, and, with an even longer horizon, to contribute to the establishment of a sustainable vaccine manufacturing industry in Africa through the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which was also launched in June.
“This APA follows the delivery of over a quarter of a million doses of Bavarian Nordic vaccines donated by other nations and Bavarian Nordic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The doses will be allocated to those most in need as per WHO’s Access and Allocation Mechanism, published on September 13,” it said.
MVA-BN, a non-replicating vaccine, has received approval in the US, Switzerland, and Singapore for mpox prevention.
Developed jointly with the US government for smallpox protection, MVA-BN safely vaccinates immunocompromised individuals and those at risk.
Notably, Bavarian Nordic has supplied this vaccine to national reserves during the recent 2022-2023 mpox outbreak.
