Gavi scales up innovation in immunisation with INFUSE 2.0 - NaijaAgroNet

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The vaccine alliance known as Gavi, has scalled up innovation in immunisation with the debut of INFUSE 2.0, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This innovation systems worth $500m, about N227,530,000,000.00 billion, NaijaAgroNet gathered, would upgrade the world’s most in-need countries.
INFUSE 2.0 features a collective of commercial and philanthropic investors focused on supporting global health entrepreneurs. The initiative also introduces a first-of-its-kind digital platform to simplify connections between communities, innovators and the private sector to make it easier and faster to share expertise. Impact evaluators will also help start-ups, investors and stakeholders better track and amplify the impact of their innovations on immunisation and global health.

By 2030, INFUSE 2.0 expects to secure at least US$ 500 million in private investment to promote access to new and under-used vaccines and immunisation innovations in the fight against deadly and debilitating infectious diseases.

“The pandemic has rolled back years of progress improving vaccine coverage in the world’s most vulnerable countries,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “With millions more children now at risk of deadly, preventable diseases, we need to ensure the most promising, most scalable innovations reach the countries that need them, urgently. INFUSE 2.0 can do just that, bringing together investors looking for impact with entrepreneurs who can deliver it to help protect children across the world.”

The new initiative builds on Innovation for Uptake, Scale and Equity in Immunisation (INFUSE) 1.0, launched in 2016, which has cultivated a community of start-up innovators overcoming vaccine delivery challenges. Initial investments in INFUSE totalled more than US$ 60 million, leading to more than US$ 200 million in follow-on funding for global health innovators.

Projects supported by INFUSE 1.0 include to prevent vaccine damage from excessive heat or cold, Nexleaf Analytics and Parsyl are deploying state-of-the-art sensor technology; To help Pakistan and Mozambique reach under-immunised children, Zenysis Technologies is harnessing big data analytics to sharpen the accuracy of vaccine planning; and to ensure that every child is registered in the health system and receives critical vaccines, Simprints is pioneering biometrics in Bangladesh, Ghana and Tanzania.

INFUSE 1.0 also mobilised investments and support from commercial and philanthropic entities including Google.org, Mastercard, NEC, Tencent and the UPS Foundation.