Singapore to support mRNA flu vaccine pilot to strengthen pandemic preparedness
The initiative is part of Singapore’s efforts to build adaptable vaccine capabilities, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly side event on Outbreak Preparedness and Response by the Ministry of Health Singapore and Hilleman Laboratories in New York on Sep 23, 2026. (Photo: MOH)
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SINGAPORE: Singapore plans to support the mRNA influenza vaccine pilot initiative in the country, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Wednesday (Sep 23).
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly side event on Outbreak Preparedness and Response in New York, Mr Ong said the initiative would serve a “peacetime need”, while helping Singapore build up adaptable capabilities.
He added that he hoped Hilleman Laboratories could support the effort.
Hilleman, a vaccine research organisation, officially opened its US$20 million vaccine manufacturing facility in Singapore in 2023.
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Mr Ong said that Singapore is also working with companies such as Sanofi, GSK, Moderna and Thermo Fisher Scientific, which have capabilities across vaccine platforms and manufacturing.
He noted that in a crisis, even a country’s best plans and investments may not yield the most effective vaccine.
“In fact I would say, most are not likely to. It may be discovered and developed by any of the many research teams around the world,” Mr Ong said.
Therefore, vaccine production facilities must be able to secure a licence, receive technology transfer and adapt their production lines quickly.
Such facilities must remain “warm” in peacetime by producing needed vaccines and maintaining operational readiness, Mr Ong said. “You cannot simply turn on a dormant factory during an emergency and expect it to run smoothly,” he added, noting that “preparedness is a living capability”.
POSSIBLE BUNDIBUGYO EBOLA VACCINE
Mr Ong also announced that Hilleman’s Singapore facility is adapting manufacturing know-how from MSD’s Zaire Ebola virus vaccine, ERVEBO, to accelerate the Bundibugyo vaccine candidate alongside support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
There are currently no approved vaccines or drugs for the Bundibugyo Ebola virus
The facility will produce material for early clinical trials, with the first batch available by the end of this year.
Mr Ong said that Hilleman’s production capacity could produce a drug substance equivalent to 50 to 60 million doses, or 12 million doses of drug product annually for this vaccine.
Depending on needs, Hilleman could also make arrangements for the transfer of technology to a larger-scale manufacturer in the region.
Mr Ong said that this showed “preparedness in action”.
“Existing science, an operating facility that is kept warm, and trusted partners to scale up – all of which shorten the path from threat to a full response,” he added.
“It offers us a possible approach in response to Disease X in future.”
Disease X is the name given to an unknown pathogen that could emerge in future and cause a serious international epidemic or pandemic, according to CEPI.
“FOCUSED CONTRIBUTION”
Should regional efforts stall during an emergency, Singapore could make a “focused contribution” together with its partners, Mr Ong said.
He outlined several areas, one being a vigilant global surveillance system that detects dangerous pathogens early, which rests on platforms where scientists and governments are willing to share data willingly and quickly.
Singapore already works closely with GISAID, a leading international repository of genomic data for SARS-CoV-2, mpox and influenza viruses.
Mr Ong highlighted how Singapore’s National Public Health Laboratory, in late July, detected a recombinant form of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, through routine genomic surveillance.
At the time of assessment, it was the only such sequence detected in Singapore, with no closely matching sequence identified in GISAID’s database.
Mr Ong noted that the patient had mild illness and recovered, and no further local cases were detected, while the sequence was submitted on the GISAID platform for global analysis.
“A country that reports an unusual pathogen may worry … about reputational or economic consequences,” said the minister.
“The answer is not to delay reporting, but to build international norms that recognise transparency as responsible conduct.”
Mr Ong also called for support for CEPI’s 100-day mission, noting that it has made significant progress towards developing safe, effective and accessible vaccines for initial authorisation and manufacturing at scale within 100 days of identifying a pandemic threat.
“The strategy is to do as much work as possible before the crisis, by building prototype vaccine libraries for representative viruses, validating adaptable platforms, and preparing laboratories, clinical-trial networks, manufacturers and regulators to move in concert.”
Singapore is aligning its vaccine development efforts under its Prepvax research initiative with CEPI’s mission, Mr Ong said. PrepVax is a national programme established by the Ministry of Health to organise vaccine development capabilities across Singapore’s public and private institutions.
Lastly, vaccines must be evaluated, approved and deployed quickly without compromising safety and quality.
Trust built in peacetime allows authorities to rely on one another’s assessments, share workloads and reduce duplication, because during a crisis, regulators tend to operate with “urgency and incomplete information”, Mr Ong noted.
The nature of Disease X is likely be novel, deadly and fast-spreading, but the minister said mRNA could offer the greatest flexibility in development and time to market, which is why Singapore plans to support the mRNA influenza vaccine pilot initiative
“To prepare for Disease X, we must resist denial, stigma, unfairness and the temptation to retreat behind national borders when global co-operation is most needed,” he added.
“We need to cooperate with each other, place our confidence in science and put in place overlapping and complementary plans ahead of time.
“The next outbreak will not wait for us to smoothen every kink and settle every disagreement. Preparedness must therefore be built now – patiently, practically and together.”
Source: CNA/fh(sn)
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