Munich Re has created a bond program to transfer pandemic risks to the capital markets.

The $US1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) program is designed to protect the reinsurer against large losses in the event of a rise in mortality rates from major pandemics across the US, England, Wales and Germany.

The first five-year series of principal-at-risk variable rate notes, valued at $US100 million ($109 million), have been issued by Cayman Islands-based Nathan Ltd.