Coronavirus Vaccine Work Faces Funding Gap of Almost $2 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- The push to develop vaccines against the new coronavirus will be in jeopardy without almost $2 billion in additional funding, according to the group coordinating the global effort.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations needs $375 million by the end of March to support trials and efforts to expand global manufacturing capacity, according to a statement Friday, and another $1.55 billion will be required by 2021. The Oslo-based group said it’s already committed $100 million of its own funds to get experimental vaccines ready for early human trials.

“Without immediate additional financial contributions, the vaccine programs we have begun will not be able to progress and ultimately will not deliver the vaccines that the world needs,” CEPI Chief Executive Officer Richard Hatchett said in the statement.

The urgent call for funds underscores the challenge in bringing experimental vaccines to the finish line in time to make an impact. The coalition is partnering with companies including Moderna Inc. and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a bid to speed up development of preventives and fight the coronavirus, which has infected more than 100,000 people.

The U.K. government committed 20 million pounds ($26 million) of additional funding to CEPI, building on 30 million pounds previously allocated, to support the work against Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, and other emerging infectious diseases.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Paton in London at jpaton4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Lauerman, Thomas Mulier

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.