The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have called on researchers and governments to strengthen and accelerate global research to prepare for the next pandemic.

They emphasised the importance of expanding research to encompass entire families of pathogens that can infect humans–regardless of their perceived pandemic risk–as well as focusing on individual pathogens. The approach proposes using prototype pathogens as guides or pathfinders to develop the knowledge base for entire pathogen families.

At the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024 held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, WHO R&D Blueprint for Epidemics issued a report urging a broader-based approach by researchers and countries. This approach aims to create broadly applicable knowledge, tools and countermeasures that can be rapidly adapted to emerging threats. This strategy also aims to speed up surveillance and research to understand how pathogens transmit and infect humans and how the immune system responds to them.

The prioritisation work underpinning the report involved over 200 scientists from more than 50 countries, who evaluated the science and evidence on 28 virus families and one core group of bacteria, encompassing 1652 pathogens. The epidemic and pandemic risk was determined by considering available information on transmission patterns, virulence, and availability of diagnostic tests, vaccines, and treatments.