CEPI appoints Dr. Amadou Alpha Sall as Executive Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain

ETHIOPIA—The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has appointed Dr. Amadou Alpha Sall as its new Executive Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain.

 This appointment is a significant step in Africa’s push to improve access to vaccines and challenge the global health system that has long limited equitable access to essential medical supplies.

Dr. Sall brings a wealth of experience and leadership to CEPI, having previously served as the head of Senegal’s Institut Pasteur of Dakar (IPD), one of Africa’s fastest-growing vaccine manufacturers.

His hands-on experience in leading IPD’s vaccine initiatives will be invaluable in his new role, where he will oversee CEPI’s strategy to strengthen the global manufacturing and supply chain for vaccines, particularly in underserved regions.

Dr. Sall will focus on improving global epidemic and pandemic preparedness in his new position. His work will include enhancing vaccine production capacity in historically under-resourced regions and promoting the use of innovative technologies to increase the speed, scale, and accessibility of vaccine production.

By focusing on these key areas, CEPI aims to ensure that vaccines can be developed and distributed more quickly in response to emerging health threats.

H.E. Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), commended Dr. Sall’s past achievements as the CEO of IPD.

Dr. Kaseya expressed confidence that Dr. Sall’s new role at CEPI will further support the Africa CDC’s mission to promote local health commodity manufacturing, a priority for African leaders.

He also emphasized that past collaborations with Dr. Sall have shown him to be an effective partner for advancing local manufacturing efforts in Africa.

This appointment comes shortly after CEPI and the Africa CDC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in May 2024 during the 77th World Health Assembly.

 The MoU aims to expand the collaboration between the two organizations to strengthen Africa’s capacity for epidemic and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

CEPI is a global partnership that brings together public, private, philanthropic, and civil organizations to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures.

Its mission is to make vaccines accessible to everyone in need, particularly in the face of emerging epidemic and pandemic threats.

Since its inception, CEPI has supported the development of over 50 vaccine candidates targeting high-risk pathogens.

A key component of CEPI’s five-year plan (2022-2026) is the ambitious “100 Days Mission,” which aims to reduce the time required to develop safe and effective vaccines for new threats to just 100 days.