COALITION FOR EPIDEMIC PREPAREDNESS INNOVATIONS

Their core work

CEPI is a global partnership based in Oslo that finances and coordinates the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases. They fund vaccine candidates from R&D through clinical trials to manufacturing readiness, targeting diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential such as Ebola, Chikungunya, Rift Valley Fever, and COVID-19. Their role is not as a lab-based researcher but as a strategic funder and portfolio manager — assembling the right partners, de-risking vaccine development, and accelerating timelines from years to months.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

CEPI's H2020 involvement began in 2018 as a participant in the Ebola vaccine effort (EBOVAC3), reflecting their founding mission around neglected epidemic diseases. By 2019-2020, they shifted to a coordinator role and dramatically expanded scope — first with a multi-pathogen portfolio (Chikungunya, Rift Valley Fever, Ebola via ECRC), then with the massive EUR 100M COVID-19 vaccine program. The trajectory shows a rapid scaling from niche epidemic preparedness to global pandemic response leadership.

CEPI is moving from single-disease vaccine support toward large-scale, multi-pathogen pandemic preparedness platforms — expect future work on rapid-response vaccine technologies and broader pathogen coverage.

How they like to work

CEPI predominantly leads — coordinating 2 of their 3 H2020 projects, including the largest at EUR 100M. With only 9 unique partners across 6 countries, their consortia are relatively compact and purpose-built rather than sprawling. This suggests a strategic, mission-driven collaboration approach: they assemble focused teams around specific vaccine targets rather than joining large multi-purpose networks.

CEPI works with 9 partners across 6 countries, forming tight, targeted consortia. Their network is international by design — reflecting the global nature of epidemic preparedness — but not extremely wide in the H2020 context.

What sets them apart

CEPI is not a typical research centre — it is a global funding and coordination body specifically designed to accelerate vaccine development against epidemic threats. Their ability to mobilize EUR 100M+ for a single vaccine program within H2020 is exceptional and reflects deep trust from the European Commission. For potential partners, CEPI offers access to large-scale funding, a clear pathway from R&D to manufacturing, and a mandate that makes them a natural anchor for any consortium targeting infectious disease preparedness.

Highlights from their portfolio

• COVID-19 VACCINES
  EUR 100M — one of the largest single EC contributions in H2020, coordinated by CEPI to fund COVID-19 vaccine R&D and manufacturing at pandemic speed.
• ECRC
  A EUR 36M multi-pathogen vaccine portfolio covering Rift Valley Fever, Chikungunya, and Ebola — showing CEPI's ability to manage parallel vaccine development tracks.
• EBOVAC3
  CEPI's entry point into H2020, contributing to the effort that brought a prophylactic Ebola vaccine toward licensure.