Citi selected as financial advisor to global procurement mechanism for COVID-19 vaccines

Citi today 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. 

“Citi considers this assignment to be a clear demonstration of who we are as a firm and it builds on the work we’re doing to help combat this crisis on many fronts,” said Jane Fraser, President of Citigroup and CEO of Global Consumer Banking. “Funding of vaccines is at the core of bringing this crisis to an end, and Citi is honored to contribute to this unprecedented effort.  We are bringing top talent together from around the firm to support Gavi in achieving its global objectives.”   

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 over 180 sovereign government entities as participants.