18 November 2021

• The US$ 250 million increase will bring the total size of the April 2026 bond to US$ 1 billion. 
• The proceeds will provide US$ 250 million in additional funding for Gavi’s core immunisation programmes and the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). 

London, 18 November 2021 – IFFIm today increased by US$ 250 million the 1% 5-year vaccine bond it issued in April 2021. The additional proceeds will provide Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with immediately available funding to support routine immunisation in lower-income countries. Deutsche Bank AG and Toronto-Dominion Bank are book-runners for this transaction.  

This month marks the 15th anniversary of IFFIm’s inaugural bond issue, which raised for Gavi its first US$ 1 billion in capital markets funding and set an enduring precedent for 'pure play' transactions supporting social and humanitarian activity. The World Bank is IFFIm’s treasury manager. 

'IFFIm’s tremendous success, particularly at this most pivotal moment in global health, has proven it was created for all the right reasons,' said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, which co-leads the COVAX Facility. 'Proceeds from these bonds will add rapid funding support for Gavi’s core vaccine programmes as well as urgently needed resources to speed and increase the availability of COVID-19 vaccines to the most underserved areas of the world.' 

IFFIm’s capital base consists of more than US$ 8.8 billion in legally binding grant commitments from its ten sovereign donors.  

'The need for vaccines has never been more visible than right now, which is why we’ve had such strong interest in this timely April bond issue,' said Ken Lay, IFFIm Board Chair. 'Today’s new issue enables the participation of more investors, both those who can only invest in transactions of US$ 1 billion or more, as those who expressed interest in IFFIm’s April 2021 bond but missed out because of relatively limited availability. Most importantly, today’s bond issue brings even more immediately available, flexible financing to Gavi’s immunisation programmes.'  

The additional funding will support Gavi’s five-year routine immunisation strategy, called Gavi 5.0, which stresses extending the availability of vaccines despite the severe disruptions caused by COVID-19. This next round of funding will allow Gavi to continue saving lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines, including Gavi’s focus on reaching every year 10 million 'zero dose' children who are currently without basic vaccines. The bond can also provide funding for the COVAX AMC, the only multilateral global solution to increasing supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries.  

'Today’s transaction brings this year’s vaccine bond issuance to $1 billion, matching IFFIm’s largest transaction – IFFIm’s debut in 2006,' said Jingdong Hua, Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank. 'Frontloading funding via the bond market makes it possible for governments to translate future commitments into urgently needed cash today and presents a unique opportunity for investors to support vaccines and health system strengthening in developing countries.' 

IFFIm once again attracted demand from investors keen to support IFFIm’s purpose and contribute to a solution to the pandemic. Geographic placement was 55% for Europe, 28% for Asia and the remaining 17% for the Americas. Bank treasuries took 60%, central banks and official institutions made up 32%, and asset managers as well as insurance funds shared the remaining 8% of the investor distribution. 

Lead Manager Quotes  

'IFFIm’s return to the markets for the second time this year commemorates the 15th anniversary of IFFIm vaccine bonds and comes at a critical time in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. The proceeds raised will play a pivotal role in supporting Gavi’s mission to accelerate the development of vaccines and access to immunisation in developing countries, including COVAX AMC. Deutsche Bank is honoured to have been a part of this important social project and IFFIm’s journey since its landmark inaugural issuance in 2006,' said Katrin Wehle, Managing Director, Sovereign, Supranational and Agency (SSA) Debt Capital Markets Origination, Deutsche Bank. 

'Congratulations to IFFIm for successfully bringing its outstanding 5-year USD line to a billion! This is IFFIm’s first ever line that has reached the US$1 billion mark since its inaugural issuance, allowing IFFIm to tap into a greater pool of investors. Additionally, this transaction is a timely achievement as IFFIm celebrates its 15-year anniversary. As ever, IFFIm's mission remains crucial in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine and booster campaign, especially given various countries are in the process of re-opening their economies and borders to the rest of the world,' said Paul Eustace, Managing Director, Head of Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) Syndicate, TD Securities. 

IFFIm's financing support to Gavi has accelerated Gavi’s delivery of life-saving vaccines in the world’s poorest countries. Since 2000, Gavi has immunised more than 888 million children and prevented more than 15 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries across Africa and Asia. Gavi uses economies of scale to drive down the prices of vaccines for the world's poorest countries and plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. 

IFFIm is widely regarded as a pioneering social bond issuer, and its vaccine bonds have enjoyed strong demand from socially responsible investors due to the clarity and focus of Gavi’s mission. 

Summary Terms of the Vaccine Bonds 

Disclaimer 

These materials are not an offer for sale of securities. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The issuer does not intend to register any part of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States. Any offering of securities will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from the issuer and that will contain detailed information about the issuer and management, as well as financial statements.