CEPI 3.0 Seeks $2.5 Billion to Strengthen the World's Disease Defenses

As deadly disease outbreaks become ever more frequent and disruptive, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is setting out a bold plan to transform the way the world tackles the most dangerous viral threats.

CEPI 3.0 is a new five-year strategy calling on governments, philanthropies, and partners to invest a total of $3.6 billion to deliver it.

With $1.1 billion already secured and committed, CEPI is now seeking an additional $2.5 billion to strengthen the world's disease defences.

At its core is the 100 Days Mission, CEPI's game-changing goal to develop safe, effective, and accessible vaccines against a virus with pandemic potential within 100 days.

Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, stated in a press release on February 13, 2026, "Recent outbreaks of Nipah, Ebola, Chikungunya, and Marburg are powerful reminders that epidemic and pandemic disease present one of the greatest challenges of our time."

"Science offers us a solution: by taking decisive action now, we can secure a safer future for all."

CEPI 3.0, due to begin in 2027, is designed to meet this challenge. It will harness the latest scientific advances to systematically reduce the likelihood, impact, and cost of epidemics and pandemics.

The new strategy will see CEPI and its partners deliver three interconnected priorities that will enable faster and fairer protection for all in the face of epidemic and pandemic threats. If fully funded, CEPI 3.0 will:

CEPI will advance response-ready vaccines for many of the most menacing known epidemic pathogens—such as Lassa, Nipah, and Rift Valley fever—while generating scientific tools, data, and knowledge across most of the viral families deemed by the World Health Organization to harbour pathogens capable of causing a Public Health Emergency of International Concern or a pandemic.

A study from 2021 wrote, 'The slow decay of probability with epidemic intensity implies that extreme epidemics are relatively likely, a property previously undetected due to short observational records and stationary analysis methods. Using recent estimates of the rate of increase in disease emergence from zoonotic reservoirs associated with environmental change, we estimate that the yearly probability of occurrence of extreme epidemics can increase up to threefold in the coming decades.'

CEPI will accelerate the development of platform technologies and embed them with regional manufacturers so that countries can move quickly against outbreaks. This approach will enable rapid vaccine development, faster manufacturing scale-up, and rapid regulatory assessment of candidate vaccines.

CEPI will connect, strengthen, and rigorously test its global scientific networks so they are ready to respond quickly and seamlessly in an emergency at every stage of the journey. It will secure access to 1–2 billion doses of regional manufacturing capacity to enable fast and fair outbreak response.

In less than 10 years, CEPI has become central to global health security – supporting more than 50 vaccine candidates and 25 platform investments.

The unedited press release is found at this link.

Previously, numerious organizations launched the 'Disease X' initiative, which focused on similar goals.