Recent news
July 2011
New partnerships are leading to a renaissance in global health research, blog post says
July 8, 2011 -- “Over the last few years, we’ve seen an explosion of discoveries in the field of global health research and development,” Jennifer Chow, director of global health R&D and public health advocacy at Research!America, writes in a Research Media blog post. She adds, “But the global health R&D renaissance isn’t happening due to happenstance. Odd bedfellows are coming together in a kind of modern matchmaking service whose aim is to save lives.”
According to Chow, these “brand-new arrangements are called PDPs for short, or Product Development Partnerships. Several groups, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have been putting together incentive packages that include some up-front money, technical assistance, and the powerful selling point that such deals have huge impacts on the health of the poorest of the poor.” Chow adds that these “PDPs are also leading the way in smart, efficient partnerships in a time of extreme economic constraint. They are combining resources from lab and research capacity to drug marketing expertise in order to successfully bring a global health product to market.”
In addition, Chow writes that US “involvement in global health research and development and innovative research financing arrangements like PDPs is not only the right thing to do, but also has tremendous economic impact in these states. Our polling consistently shows broad support among Americans on the importance of funding global health R&D.” She concludes, “Now, the advent of PDPs illustrates that there are new avenues to produce life-saving benefits around the world and boost our economy at home.” See the links below for more information.
