Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance announced on Wednesday, its decision to buy 500,000 doses of mpox vaccines in advance from Bavarian Nordicfor an immediate supply in African countries affected by the mpox outbreak.

The rapid access to theMVA-BN mpox vaccine doses, secured through an advance purchase agreement (APA)signed between the two companies, will be funded by Gavi's First Response Fund, the company said.

The doses, thus secured through the advance purchase agreement, will be delivered this year.

Launched in June 2024, the First Response Fund is a concept which was developed afterthe COVID-19 epidemic,to help improve immediate access tofunds and purchase of vaccines at the time of health emergencies like mpox.

As part of the plan, Gavi will invest a total of$50 million for transportation, delivery and cost of administering the vaccines,Reuters reported.According to a rough calculation by the news agency, the vaccine is cheaper than earlier calculationsand is expected to cost less than $100 per vaccine.

"We are committed to working with affected governments and our partners to turn these vaccines into vaccinations as quickly and effectively as possible and, over time, to build a global vaccine stockpile if sufficient funding is secured for Gavi's work through 2030," Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said in a statement.

Bavarian Nordic revealed they were pleased to sign the agreement and support Gavi's initiative."The doses secured through this agreement will significantly increase the availability of mpox vaccines for African countries, and we are pleased that Gavi has selected our MVA-BN vaccine, which has proven highly effective during the global mpox outbreak in 2022," Paul Chaplin, President & CEO of Bavarian Nordic, said.

Mpox vaccines manufactured by Bavarian Nordic are sold under brand names like Jynneos, Imvamune and Imvanex.It was recently, its vaccines got approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight mpox.

Mpox, a viral illness caused by the monkey pox virus- a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus- was first reported in monkeys kept in a research lab in Denmark in 1958. In 1970, Democratic Republic of the Congo, reported the first human case of mpox in a nine-month-old boy. The viral disease started spreading to different parts of the world in 2022.

According to a WHO report, between January 2022 and August 2024, more than 120 countries have reported cases of mpox with one lakh laboratory confirmed cases of mpox and more than 220 deaths.

Earlier this month, UNESCO announced its decision to collaborate with Africa CDC, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO and the Pan American Health Organization to improve access to available mpox vaccines, to increase its production and also to enable donations of vaccines from existing stockpiles in high-income countries.

Democratic Republic of Congo received its first doses of mpox vaccines manufactured by Bavarian Nordic on 5 Sep.