Beyond co-hosting our own official side event at the 79th World Health Assembly, DCVMN leadership spent the week in Geneva engaging across a series of high-level discussions, each one an opportunity to bring the voice of developing-country vaccine manufacturers to the conversations shaping the future of global health.
Immediately after the Indonesia-DCVMN side event, DCVMN CEO, Rajinder Suri took part in the Strategic Advisory Board meeting of the Regional Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC) in WHO HQ, and impressed upon the need of financial support welcoming World Bank’s deeper interest at this critical juncture.
Next day, Dr. Sunil Gairola, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India & DCVMN Board member joined CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)’s side event, “From Outbreak Response to System Readiness: Building the Global and Regional Capabilities to Stop Pandemic Threats in 100 Days,” which explored how countries and partners can move from episodic outbreak response toward a permanent, system-wide capability for preparedness and rapid response to future threats, highlighting development of four novel vaccines with support from CEPI.
On 19th evening, DCVMN CEO was pleased to join the Global Coalition for Local and Regional Production, Innovation and Equitable Access in celebrating its first anniversary, exploring their progress throughout the year sincerely appreciating the achievement in a short span of time from concept to delivery!
On Wednesday, Mr. Suri took part in International Vaccine Institute (IVI)’s side event, “Call to Action for Advancing Biomanufacturing Self-Reliance: From Policy to Practice in Local Manufacturing,” focused on translating political commitments into action through collaborative governance, partnership models, and sustainable investment. Rajinder joined the panel “Effective partnership models and lessons for scaling across regions,” alongside Priscila Ferraz Soares of DCVMN member company Fiocruz, Dr. Michael Lusiola Director of RVMC, and Nafisa Jiwani, Director of CEPI, moderated by Sushant Sahastrabuddhe, MD, MPH,MBA, Associate Director General of IVI. Mr. Suri spoke to the perspective only manufacturers can offer: ensuring that R&D is “manufacturable.” He focused on research-to-manufacturing integration, highlighting the gaps and needs of developing-country manufacturers in outbreak response, and how early-stage R&D funding can better account for real-world manufacturing constraints, such as formulation and process scalability, to help bridge the ‘valley of death’ between discovery and product development.
Finally, on Thursday, Mr. Suri attended the Global Initiative on Digital Health side event, “Pharma 4.0: Strengthening local production of pharmaceuticals and the supply chain systems in Africa through digitalization,” which launched a situation analysis on the intersection of digitalization, pharmaceutical production, and private sector cooperation across the Africa.
