Nipah virus (NiV) is a member of the family Paramyxoviridae, in the genus Henipavirus. It is a zoonotic virus — a virus that naturally infects animal hosts but can infect humans1. NiV is one of the priority pathogens in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) priority disease portfolio, owing to its high lethality, outbreak potential and the absence of licensed vaccines. CEPI has funded NiV vaccine development since 2018, and continues to make substantial investments in enabling scientific projects, including the production of international standards for NiV antibodies, assay development and epidemiological studies. In 2023, CEPI convened a diverse group of experts and stakeholders in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting brought together 64 NiV experts from over 25 institutions, including the US National Institutes of Health, UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), PATH, the University of Oxford, Moderna, the Ministry of Health in Malaysia, and many others. The discussions covered a wide range of topics, including CEPI’s NiV strategy, clinical assays, disease epidemiology, medical interventions and emerging henipaviruses. In this Comment, we summarize the key discussion points, and focus on the experiences of countries affected by NiV outbreaks and highlight critical research gaps and opportunities. Additional insights were gained from a tabletop exercise that examined global readiness to a highly transmissible Nipah-like virus using currently available technologies and resources.