OSLO, Norway and INCHEON, South Korea, Feb. 3, 2026 — The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Samsung Biologics (KRX: 207940.KS), a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), today announced a partnership to strengthen vaccine manufacturing preparedness for future epidemic and pandemic threats. The collaboration will see Samsung Biologics join CEPI’s Vaccine Manufacturing Facility Network (VMFN) with the aim of accelerating the availability of protein-based vaccines and advancing equitable access to those vaccines during future outbreaks in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).
Supported by an initial budget of up to US$20 million, CEPI will work with Samsung Biologics to establish a scalable, rapid manufacturing process for recombinant-protein vaccines. This will include leveraging Samsung Biologics’ well-established mammalian cell-based infrastructure — a flexible system that plays a key role in manufacturing protein-based products efficiently and at a very large scale — and its mature quality and regulatory systems. The aim is to pre-position a ready-to-activate process that can be deployed quickly when a new viral threat emerges, giving protein-based vaccines a rapid response capability in future.
Under the agreement, Samsung Biologics will also conduct a simulated outbreak response exercise using a wild-type H5 influenza as a prototype pathogen recommended by the WHO. The exercise is designed to demonstrate the speed and robustness of Samsung Biologics’ end-to-end capabilities, from antigen development through to vaccine drug product manufacture to supply. This simulation will provide insights into how quickly recombinant-protein vaccines can be manufactured at scale in an outbreak scenario and help lay the grounds to prepare a generic regulatory submission dossier.
By joining CEPI’s global VMFN, in a future pandemic situation, Samsung Biologics will provide CEPI with guaranteed access to up to potentially 50 million vaccine doses, and an additional one billion doses of drug substance ready to be converted into finished vaccines. This arrangement reserves doses for vulnerable populations in underserved LMIC regions and at the same time, enables Korea’s national needs to be met in line with CEPI’s Equitable Access Policy.
“We are delighted to welcome Samsung Biologics to CEPI’s Vaccine Manufacturing Facility Network. Their recombinant protein production scale and technical capabilities add vital strength to our outbreak-response infrastructure,” said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI. “Partnering with one of the world’s foremost recombinant protein contract manufacturers will help us move more rapidly from prototype sequence to production and get vaccines to the underserved global communities that need them most.”
The partnership supports CEPI’s 100 Days Mission — a global effort to develop vaccines within 100 days of identifying a novel pathogen with pandemic potential — by putting in place pre-agreed, end-to-end manufacturing pathways that enable rapid scaling. It also advances CEPI’s strategy to broaden the technological mix and geographical reach of the VMFN with our first East Asian partner – helping to ensure more agile, distributed, and reliable supply during future disease outbreaks.
“This agreement reflects our commitment to supporting a reliable and agile vaccine supply ecosystem through continued innovation and strong collaboration. It also contributes to Korea’s ability to secure timely access to vaccines during urgent public-health situations,” said John Rim, President and CEO of Samsung Biologics. “By working with CEPI to advance recombinant protein vaccine development and ensure capacity for timely production when demand rises, we aim to broaden access to high-quality vaccines for patients around the world. Samsung Biologics will continue to apply its technical and manufacturing expertise to strengthen global preparedness and help build a more resilient response environment.”
Additional projects to support vaccine technology transfer, regulatory preparedness, and developing vaccine innovations may be developed as the partnership with Samsung Biologics evolves. Samsung Biologics advanced large-scale GMP manufacturing capabilities will ensure reliable access to vaccine production capacity, thereby supporting effective responses for future epidemics and pandemics.
Samsung Biologics becomes the latest organisation to join CEPI’s growing VMFN, which now includes manufacturing partners in Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Senegal. Together, the VMFN aims to create a globally distributed manufacturing ecosystem capable of producing vaccines at speed and scale — ensuring that populations everywhere, but particularly in LMIC regions, can access countermeasures when new health threats emerge.
