New $1 Million Boost for AVAREF to Fast-Track Vaccine Trials in Africa

In a major step towards strengthening Africa’s preparedness for future epidemics and pandemics, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has announced a $1 million funding boost to the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF). The funding, provided under a new two-year project, will support efforts to accelerate vaccine clinical trial reviews, improve regulatory efficiency, and build pandemic-ready systems across the continent.

The initiative aims to help African regulatory authorities and ethics committees—already part of the AVAREF network—streamline their decision-making processes during public health emergencies, ensuring that life-saving vaccines can be developed and deployed in record time.

Strengthening Africa’s Capacity to Respond Swiftly

The project focuses on enhancing Africa’s ability to review multi-country clinical trial applications quickly and safely. Currently, the standard review timeline for clinical trial approvals on the continent can range between six and eighteen months, largely due to sequential rather than parallel reviews by regulatory and ethics bodies.

In the context of infectious disease outbreaks—where rapid containment is crucial—such delays can have devastating consequences. The CEPI-AVAREF partnership seeks to cut approval times to just 10–15 days during emergencies through joint emergency review mechanisms.

These mechanisms bring together regulators and ethics committees from multiple African countries to conduct joint reviews of vaccine trial applications submitted by developers, enabling a coordinated, high-quality, and rapid response while maintaining scientific and ethical rigor.

Building Pandemic-Ready Regulatory Systems

This initiative forms part of CEPI’s “100 Days Mission”, an ambitious global goal to develop safe and effective vaccines against new infectious disease threats within 100 days of outbreak identification.

By strengthening AVAREF’s capacity, CEPI hopes to help African nations reduce administrative bottlenecks, synchronize regional reviews, and harmonize regulatory standards, setting a model for global health emergency response frameworks.

Jacqueline Rodgers, Senior Regulatory Affairs Lead for Africa at CEPI, underscored the urgency of this work:

“From Mpox to Marburg and Ebola Sudan to Lassa fever, Africa has faced an abundance of deadly outbreaks in recent years. Each day counts in an outbreak, so rapid and meaningful responses to requests for scientific advice and well-designed vaccine trials can be game changers. Building robust, pandemic-ready regulatory systems on the continent enhances Africa’s self-sufficiency and sets an example for other regions.”

Rodgers also emphasized that AVAREF’s enhanced capabilities could serve as a blueprint for similar regional forums in Asia and the Americas, supporting a vision of global preparedness against emerging infectious diseases, including the hypothetical “Disease X.”

The Role of AVAREF

Established in 2006 under the World Health Organization (WHO), AVAREF is a network of African regulatory authorities and ethics committees dedicated to improving the review and oversight of vaccine clinical trials. It supports African countries in developing the regulatory expertise required to handle complex, multi-country research during public health emergencies.

AVAREF plays a crucial role in:

• Coordinating joint reviews of clinical trial applications across African countries;

• Providing scientific advice to developers and sponsors of vaccines;

• Training regulators and ethics committee members;

• Promoting harmonized ethical and scientific standards across the continent.

With CEPI’s new funding, AVAREF will expand its training programmes, simulation exercises, and emergency review rehearsals—giving regulators hands-on experience in fast-tracking trials while maintaining high safety standards.

WHO and African Leadership in Vaccine Regulation

Dr Benido Impouma, Director of the Health Promotion, Disease and Prevention Control Cluster at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, welcomed CEPI’s support, calling it a “timely and strategic contribution.”

“We greatly appreciate CEPI’s financial support to AVAREF,” said Dr Impouma. “This contribution will strengthen the capacity of African regulatory authorities and ethics committees to conduct timely and high-quality reviews of clinical trial applications. With WHO’s continued support, this partnership will help countries accelerate access to safe and effective vaccines, protect communities, and improve preparedness for future health emergencies.”

WHO’s ongoing technical guidance ensures that AVAREF’s activities align with global standards while addressing the specific challenges facing African health systems.

Simulation Exercises and Global Expertise

The CEPI-funded project will also finance simulation exercises designed to mimic real-world outbreak scenarios. These exercises will allow regulatory experts to test and refine emergency response protocols, helping countries to identify bottlenecks and improve coordination across borders.

AVAREF will also engage subject matter experts from within Africa and around the world to support scientific advice and emergency review processes. Notably, Germany’s Paul Ehrlich Institute, a world-renowned medical regulatory authority, will contribute technical expertise and training support to the initiative.

By conducting joint reviews and simulations, national regulators will gain invaluable insights into optimizing clinical trial approval timelines and sharing knowledge with peers across the continent.

Toward a Future of Faster, Safer Vaccine Development

Africa has made significant progress in strengthening regulatory oversight over the past decade, but the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the need for faster, more harmonized decision-making systems. The CEPI-AVAREF collaboration addresses this gap by focusing on preparedness, not just response.

The goal is clear: to ensure that when the next epidemic strikes, African countries can approve and begin vaccine trials within weeks, not months, contributing to global efforts to halt outbreaks before they escalate.

As Dr Impouma put it, “Together, we are building stronger systems that safeguard the health and security of our communities.”

The new funding marks not just an investment in regulatory efficiency, but in Africa’s long-term scientific and public health sovereignty — ensuring that the continent can respond swiftly and decisively to protect its people from emerging health threats.