Citi announced the firm has been selected by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to be the financial advisor for the COVAX Facility, its global procurement mechanism for COVID-19 vaccines.
The COVAX Facility is part of COVAX, a global, multilateral initiative aimed at developing, manufacturing and deploying COVID-19 vaccines on a fair and equitable basis. It is co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the World Health Organization (WHO) —working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, the World Bank, Civil Society Organizations and others.
Citi will provide Gavi with expert advice on structures to mitigate sovereign, credit and operational risk as the COVAX Facility seeks to facilitate pooled procurement and equitable distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines from multiple pharmaceutical manufacturers to all COVAX participating economies once they reach licensure.
In its first phase, and up until the end of 2021, the COVAX Facility aims to secure and deliver 2 billion doses of vaccines to be distributed to member countries’ populations. The facility currently counts more than 180 sovereign government entities as participants.
In its role as advisor, Citi will advise and assist in finding risk mitigation and execution strategies in connection with the facility, including supporting the building of strategies to operationalize and maintain the COVAX Facility.