Japan’s Commitment to Contribute to the World Bank for COVID-19 Vaccine Research Sets Example and Will Advance Global Health, IAVI Says

NEW YORK – APRIL 22, 2020 – The Government of Japan announced to the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Development Committee on April 17, in partnership with the World Bank, its commitment to contribute $10 million (USD) to IAVI’s COVID-19 vaccine development program.

The announcement follows years of leadership from the Government of Japan, which has provided significant investment in HIV/AIDS vaccine research, in partnership with the World Bank, through it support of IAVI’s work on the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) technology; this support has enabled this platform technology to now be applied to a range of pressing global health threats, including COVID-19. The World Bank has been a key partner to IAVI since the organization was founded nearly 25 years ago.

“We are deeply grateful to the Government of Japan and the World Bank for this important commitment to advance COVID-19 vaccine research,” said Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., IAVI president and CEO.

“Scientific research and development for a COVID-19 vaccine must be a global effort, with support from governments and private-sector institutions around the world. This pandemic has underscored that public health is truly global – and our work to protect public health must be, too. With this support, Japan is both setting an example for other countries and helping advance global health.”

Feinberg said that IAVI’s COVID-19 vaccine program is in development, and that the organization is actively working to engage other partners to enable this vaccine development program to advance as expeditiously as possible and, if successful, be positioned to address the global need for a COVID-19 vaccine as an essential tool to end this pandemic.