Pasteur Network Workshop in Casablanca Charts Clear Path for Vaccine Collaboration and Pandemic Readiness

Casablanca, Morocco — May 2025
Pasteur Network member institutes gathered in Casablanca for a two-day workshop focused on strengthening collaboration in vaccine research, development, and epidemic preparedness. Experts from across the Network—spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America—came together to align on priorities and define the next steps for collective action. This meeting is part of the network’s broader strategic focus pillars, which include reinforcing epidemic intelligence & preparedness, strengthening the R&D ecosystem (especially in diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics), enhancing capacity building and knowledge transfer, and ensuring continuous modernization. The aim is to coordinate efforts across multiple scales (local, regional, global), leveraging the network’s diverse expertise and presence, particularly in the Global South.

Key Outcomes

The workshop produced several important outcomes:

• Training,Knowledge Sharing, & Staff Mobility: Members agreed to launch training programs and plan for mobility programs across the vaccine development value chain / from discovery to production (e.g., vaccine manufacturing, clinical trials, technology transfer, mRNA technology, and regulatory processes).. The network plans to start internally by mapping existing skills and responsibilities among members.
• From Research to Clinical Application: A roadmap was outlined to move promising research through preclinical testing, GMP production, and multinational clinical trials, supported by quality and legal frameworks.

• Addressing Intellectual Property (IP) A centralized IP agreement is needed. This agreement could be flexible, for example, agreeing to provide IP to the Global South, following principles like the Rio Declaration. A discussion at the PN Board on a centralized IP agreement is a planned next step.

• Exploring Infrastructure and Support Mechanisms The concept of a bio-accelerator was suggested as a central place for members to learn about new R&D developments and technologies. Establishing specialized manufacturing and clinical study centers is also under discussion.

Next Steps:

• Review & Feedback: Members will update the institutional capacity database and submit feedback on the business case that is being developed for the Network.
• Finalization of the Business Case: The Pasteur Network vaccine manufacturing business is a comprehensive document that will present each members capacities, vaccine technology platform and explore collaboration opportunities.
• Training Rollout: Preparations for training implementation and resource assessments will begin.
• Next Meeting: Planning will start for the next  in person meeting inHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam (October) which virtual meetings between now and October

“The Casablanca meeting marked a turning point for the Pasteur Network. We left with a better understanding of our strength and way to work together in different aspect of vaccine research and development —but also a commitment to move from ideas to implementation. What makes this network powerful is our collective capacity to act across geographies, guided by science, solidarity, and a common purpose,”
— Dr. Rebecca Grais, Executive Director, Pasteur Network

This workshop reaffirmed the Pasteur Network’s mission to strengthen equitable global health capacities and build a collaborative ecosystem ready to respond to the next health emergency.