…High-level roundtable on sidelines of World Health Summit to explore co-funding for research, trials and manufacturing
By Danjuma Amodu
The West African Health Organisation and international health partners will meet in Berlin on Sunday to advance a collaborative financing framework for Lassa fever vaccine development, as efforts intensify to strengthen the region’s preparedness for epidemic threats.
The high-level roundtable, scheduled for October 11 on the sidelines of the World Health Summit, will explore funding commitments for vaccine research, late-stage clinical development, research readiness and regional manufacturing capacity.
Source: Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
The initiative comes amid persistent concerns over Lassa fever, a major public health threat in West Africa, and the limited commercial incentives for developing vaccines against epidemic diseases.
Convened by IAVI, MedAccess and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the meeting is being organised with support from WAHO and the German development agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, with funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The roundtable is expected to bring together regional and international partners to review progress on the proposed financing framework, clarify their respective roles and identify concrete next steps, including potential financial commitments.
WAHO said it would use the meeting to advance the priorities of member states of the Economic Community of West African States, with emphasis on regional ownership, coordinated investment and sustainable financing for Lassa fever vaccine preparedness.
The organisation will be represented by its Director of Healthcare Services, Dr Virgil Lokossou, who is expected to highlight how investments in vaccine development could strengthen clinical research, laboratory capacity, disease surveillance, regulatory systems and regional preparedness for future epidemics.
The discussions build on the September 2025 ministerial roundtable in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, convened by WAHO in collaboration with the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.
The meeting brought together health ministers or their representatives from 11 West African countries, culminating in a communiqué that supported the advancement of IAVI’s recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus Lassa fever vaccine candidate as a regional pathfinder.
The communiqué also committed participating countries to mobilising national, regional and international resources through a collaborative co-funding approach.
Building on the commitments, WAHO has led a regional Demand Forecasting Working Group to develop projections that could inform the vaccine investment case.
The projections draw on country consultations, expert interviews, key informant inputs and contributions from national Lassa fever task forces.
The proposed financing framework is expected to combine contributions from governments, philanthropic organisations and other financing partners to support the advancement of Lassa fever vaccines.
IAVI’s investigational rVSV Lassa fever vaccine candidate, supported by CEPI and the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, underscores the need for sustained investment in vaccine research alongside stronger regional clinical research and manufacturing capabilities.
Beyond Lassa fever, the partners believe the financing approach could provide a model for supporting the development of vaccines against other priority epidemic diseases.
The closed-door roundtable will hold from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Central European Summer Time at the Pullman Berlin Schweizerhof in Germany.
