Breakthroughs Blog: Research Roundup

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. GHTC member PATH—along with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Serum Institute of India (SII)—will receive a national award for this year’s most outstanding intellectual property licensing deal for the group’s technology transfer of the MenAfriVac™ vaccine—a low-cost meningitis vaccine specifically developed for people in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2014 Deal of Distinction Award—which recognizes excellence in licensing deals—will be presented to the group by the Licensing Executives Society at its annual meeting in early October. In a recent FDA Voice blog post, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg writes about FDA’s new strategic priorities. Given that the FDA continues to expand its global reach, and that nearly 40 percent of medicines Americans consume are developed outside the United States, the agency has established five strategic priorities: regulatory science, globalization, safety and quality, smart regulation, and stewardship. Policy Cures writes in their monthly update, RADAR, about recent news on global health research and development in Australia. Australia has committed AUD$30 million in annual funding to health research for development—including $10 million for product development partnerships. Five million dollars of funding could also be used for a health innovation fund (possibly a Grand Challenges Australia). As the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues, the Center for Global Development looks at ways to find a cure for this deadly disease. They argue that two things are needed: cost-effective thresholds for investments in global health, and an Advance Market Commitment to accelerate the development of new vaccines for Ebola and other neglected diseases.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. In a new paper—developed by the Council on Health Research for Development, GHTC, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and PATH—the authors make the case for the inclusion of research and innovation for health as a central component of the post-2015 development agenda. The paper describes the impact that increased investments in R&D and innovation for health—particularly for the world’s poorest—have had in contributing to progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—particularly for MDGs 4 (reduce child mortality), 5 (improve maternal health), and 6 (combat HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other diseases). In a recent special report from the Global Post, the prominence of public-private partnerships in global health is analyzed as governments laud private sector partners for their expertise and vast resources. However, while most believe public-private partnerships to be highly effective, the Global Post looks into how to quantify their impact given the lack of comprehensive and transparent metrics for evaluation. Last week we at the United Nations General Assembly, the US Agency for International Development, the UK Department for International Development, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the Australian Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Omidyar Network have launched a US$200 million Global Innovation Fund. Grants ranging from $50,000 to $15 million will be available for social enterprises, for-profit businesses, researchers, government agencies, and nonprofits. The Atlantic highlights a recent incident in El Paso, Texas, where a former hospital nursery employee tested positive for tuberculosis (TB), which caused panic and precautionary screenings of more than 700 infants who passed through the nursery over the last year. In addition to demonstrating that Americans are not immune to this diseases, the article also asks why an effective vaccine to prevent TB in the first place has yet to be discovered. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have received national recognition for the “most outstanding intellectual property deal” for MenAfriVac™—a low-cost meningitis vaccine developed specifically for populations in sub-Saharan Africa. The vaccine—developed by GHTC member PATH and the Serum Institute of India—incorporated technology from the FDA, as well as a patent license for a manufacturing process granted by the NIH.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. With the 69th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly going on this week in New York and the global community debating how best to refine the post-2015 development agenda, over 150 organizations and individuals signed a petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Member States urging the UN to keep the research, development, and delivery of new and improved health tools at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda. A new public-private partnership to fight against HIV and AIDS has been launched—part of a Clinton Global Initiative five-year Commitment to Action that will strengthen laboratory systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The $15 million, five-country collaboration—called Stronger Together—will leverage the expertise of each partner country to build up laboratory infrastructure, which remains critical to disease control and product development. This week, the Obama administration announced a new set of federal executive actions to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria in an effort to protect public health. The administration will put forth an executive order that would direct the federal government to work both domestically and internationally to reduce the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Specifically for health research and development, the National Institutes of Health, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and the Food and Drug Administration will launch a $20 million prize to facilitate the development of a rapid diagnostic test that can be used by health providers to identify highly resistant bacterial infections. GHTC member the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) has awarded seven new grants totaling US$15.3 million to tackle malaria, Chagas disease, and dengue fever. The investments aim to speed up the development of promising drugs and vaccines to battle these three insect-borne diseases.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Now that members of Congress are back in their Capitol Hill offices after five weeks of recess, lawmakers must decide what to prioritize and what to push off in the few short weeks left in session before members hit the campaign trail for the upcoming November mid-term elections. In the latest post on Breakthroughs, GHTC Senior Policy and Advocacy Associate, Jenny Howell, provides a breakdown of what lawmakers should do to ensure global health research and development gets the support it needs. Federal funding in the United States for biomedical research has declined by more than 20 percent in the last decade. At the same time, more scientists are competing for a smaller pot of money. NPR highlights two stories of researchers forced out of science because they either can’t get research funding or “because the rat race has simply become too unpleasant.” Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered an HIV antibody that could be effective in fighting the deadly disease. According to the scientists, the antibody—called 35O22—can prevent 62 percent of known HIV strains from infecting cells. The NIH-led scientists also found that the antibody closely resembles antibodies that naturally occur in HIV, which could help in the development of an eventual vaccine. Results from a recent clinical trial could change the approach researchers take on the delivery and development of tuberculosis (TB) drugs in the future. While the REMoxTB trial did not successfully prove TB treatment times could be shortened from six to four months by substituting antibiotic moxiflacin for a currently used drug, it did prove that moxiflacin was safe to use to treat TB on its own. Also, because the trial was one of the largest ever for a new TB regimen, the trial left a stronger research infrastructure to conduct other trials in the future. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $50 million to fight Ebola in West Africa. According to Gates Foundation CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann, the new money will be available for emergency operations and to help develop drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines to fight the disease. The Gates Foundation’s commitment is the largest sum to ever for one outbreak.