Samsung Biologics announced on the 4th that it has signed a Vaccine Manufacturing Facilities Network (VMFN) partnership agreement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

The signing ceremony, held on the 3rd at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, was attended by CEO John Rim and CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett.

Under this agreement, Samsung Biologics will cooperate with CEPI to rapidly supply vaccines worldwide in the event of a future pandemic. In particular, vaccines produced by Samsung Biologics will be supplied to Korea on a priority basis at CEPI’s request, which is considered highly significant from the perspective of national health security.

The partnership has been pursued to achieve CEPI’s “100 Days Mission.” The 100 Days Mission aims to complete initial regulatory approval of a vaccine and prepare for large-scale manufacturing within 100 days of a pandemic outbreak.

Under the agreement, an initial budget of up to US$20 million (approximately KRW 28.8 billion) will be invested. Samsung Biologics will be designated as a “priority manufacturer” for the production of vaccines that CEPI is supporting for development, and in the event of a pandemic, it will produce up to 50 million doses of vaccines and drug substance that can be converted into 1 billion doses of finished drug product.

The two parties will cooperate to strengthen process development for recombinant protein vaccines and expand reserved manufacturing capacity, and they also plan to conduct a simulation exercise assuming an outbreak of wild-type H5 influenza. Through this, they intend to verify the speed and reliability of the entire vaccine value chain, from antigen development to vaccine manufacturing and supply.

Samsung Biologics is viewed as having established a foothold to position itself as a vaccine production hub in the Asia-Pacific region through this partnership. Samsung Biologics had already proven its pandemic response capabilities by becoming the first in Korea to manufacture Moderna’s mRNA vaccine in 2021. At that time, it supplied vaccines within five months of signing the contract, demonstrating rapid response capabilities.

John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics, said, “Through cooperation with CEPI, we will help build an ecosystem that can supply vaccines quickly and reliably in the event of a pandemic and contribute to strengthening Korea’s vaccine sovereignty,” adding, “We will continue to reinforce our pandemic response capabilities based on our technological strength and manufacturing expertise.”

Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said, “Samsung Biologics’ manufacturing capabilities and technology will play an important role in strengthening the global infrastructure for responding to infectious diseases,” expressing his expectations that “this collaboration will enable rapid large-scale vaccine production and accelerate supply to medically vulnerable regions.”

CEPI is a global coalition launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2017, with government agencies from more than 30 countries, including Korea, and numerous global pharmaceutical and biotech companies participating. It is currently investing in vaccine development to prevent emerging viruses such as ‘Disease X’ to prepare for future pandemics.

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