Global cholera vaccination is expanding beyond emergency response in outbreak areas to preventive immunization, increasing the importance of EuBiologics’ role in vaccine supply.
According to UNICEF on Sept. 4, the international emergency stockpile of cholera vaccines stood at 3.879 million doses as of Aug. 31.
That was about 1.12 million doses below the 5 million-dose standing stockpile target maintained by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) to enable a rapid response to cholera outbreaks.
Global supply conditions for oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) are improving as production increases. As a result, preventive vaccination, which had been suspended since 2022 due to vaccine shortages, resumed this year after more than three years.
The World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF announced the resumption of preventive cholera vaccination in February. Starting with Mozambique, vaccination is being expanded to countries at high risk of cholera, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bangladesh.
According to WHO, global OCV supply doubled from 35 million doses in 2022 to about 70 million doses last year, reaching twice the volume in three years. Based on this supply, 20 million doses were initially allocated for preventive vaccination this year. Mozambique is scheduled to receive 3.6 million doses, the Democratic Republic of the Congo 6.1 million doses and Bangladesh 10.3 million doses.
WHO has identified EuBiologics as the only manufacturer currently capable of producing the quantities required for large-scale preventive cholera vaccination. EuBiologics’ Euvichol-S is a product with simplified manufacturing processes that improve production efficiency compared with its existing Euvichol-Plus vaccine. It received WHO prequalification in April 2024.
Demand for cholera vaccines could increase again. The risk of cholera outbreaks remains high in parts of Africa and Asia due to flooding, conflict and inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. WHO has emphasized that securing safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, along with vaccination, is important for preventing cholera.
A EuBiologics official said, “We are responding to the expansion of global OCV supply, centered on Euvichol-S, which has improved production efficiency. Based on our long-standing experience supplying international organizations and our large-scale manufacturing capacity, we are continuing to strengthen our position in the global public vaccine market.”
