UNICEF issues emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has issued an emergency tender for procurement of mpox vaccines for the hardest-hit countries in collaboration with Africa CDC, the Gavi vaccine alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization and other partners.

In a joint statement, the organizations said that depending on the demand and the production capacity of manufacturers, agreements for up to 12 million doses through 2025 can be put in place.

Under the emergency tender, UNICEF will set up conditional supply agreements with vaccine manufacturers. This will allow the agency to purchase and ship vaccines without delay once countries and partners have secured financing, and satisfied demand, readiness, and regulatory requirements.

The collaboration will enable donations of vaccines from existing stockpiles in high-income countries.

According to the statement, WHO is currently reviewing the information submitted by manufacturers on 23 August and is expected to complete its review for Emergency Use Listing by mid-September.

In August, the WHO declared the ongoing outbreak a global public health emergency after the Africa CDC, the regional health agency, classified it as a public health emergency of continental security and appealed for 10 million mpox vaccine doses.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that an international response plan to combat the ongoing mpox outbreak will require roughly $135 million over the next six months as a new, deadlier strain of the virus spreads globally.

Countries such as Sweden and Thailand have already reported mpox cases attributed to the clade 1b type of the virus, driving the recent outbreak centered on Africa. Clade 1b is believed to be more transmissible and deadlier than the mild clade 2b variant, which led to the previous mpox outbreak in 2022.

Vaccine Related Stocks

Vaccine developers for mpox include Bavarian Nordic (OTCPK:BVNKF) (OTCPK:BVNRY), Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS), and Chimerix (NASDAQ:CMRX).

Developers of mpox therapeutics: GeoVax Labs (NASDAQ:GOVX), SIGA Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA), and Tonix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TNXP).

Monkeypox test makers: Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX), Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) (OTCQX:RHHBF), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), Applied DNA Sciences (NASDAQ:APDN)