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The Gates Foundation has awarded ProFound Therapeutics up to $35 million to find new drug targets for preeclampsia, a high blood pressure condition during pregnancy that can be severe for mother and child and is a significant contributor to maternal and fetal deaths globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. ProFound will utilize their vast repository of proteins and data to improve scientific understanding of how preeclampsia is developed in the body, with the goal of identifying promising approaches for future drug development. Once targets are identified, the company will explore their features using an AI tool and then evaluate them in laboratory experiments.Last week, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced that it will invest up to $16.5 million to advance the development of an African-developed vaccine candidate for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the fast-growing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CEPI’s support will help advance the candidate through preclinical development and into an early-stage clinical trial in Africa. The vaccine candidate uses a technology that is utilized by a licensed vaccine against smallpox and mpox and has elicited long-term immunity in a vaccine targeting the Zaire strain of Ebola. It is the fifth Bundibugyo-specific vaccine candidate supported by CEPI in response to the current outbreak and the only of the five designed to induce two major parts of the immune system, both B- and T-cells, for comprehensive and long-lasting immunity.A novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate failed to match the current, more-than-100-years-old vaccine in preventing TB infections in newborns, according to the recently shared results of a Phase 3 trial conducted among 6,897 healthy newborns in sub-Saharan Africa. TB remains the world’s leading infectious disease killer and there is an urgent need for a new vaccine—the current TB vaccine, BCG, is effective at preventing some types of TB in infants, but it offers inconsistent protection in adults against pulmonary TB. One of 17TB vaccine candidates in the pipeline, the vaccine in the trial, VPM1002, is a genetically modified recombinant BCG vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India. While disappointing, the results of the trial do provide significant insights about how best to design robust, feasible efficacy trials for future vaccine candidates.

Last Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that, with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, it will allocate 70,000 doses of an approved Ebola vaccine to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is facing the largest Ebola outbreak in the country’s history. The vaccine, Ervebo, targets Ebola Zaire, the most common Ebola strain, not the Bundibugyo strain behind the current outbreak—for which there are no approved vaccines —but early laboratory and animal data suggest it may provide some cross-protection. Twenty thousand doses will be used in a Phase 3 trial to evaluate whether the vaccine offers cross-protection for Bundibugyo, while the remaining doses will be allocated to frontline health care workers, serving the dual goals of providing some protection for at-risk populations against severe illness and death during the current outbreak while gathering critical data to inform use of the vaccine in future Bundibugyo outbreaks.Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research have developed a rapid blood test that could improve detection of iron deficiency, a widespread health challenge disproportionately affecting mothers and children in low-resource settings where access to conventional laboratory-based screening methods are limited. Using a finger-prick blood sample, the test provides results within 15 minutes without the need for specialized laboratory infrastructure and highly trained health care providers. It has demonstrated strong correlation with gold-standard laboratory methods used in high-income countries and includes a built-in reference line to make the results easier to interpret. The test is currently undergoing evaluation in sub-Saharan Africa.The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) shared last week that it will dedicate $4.17 million to four research projects designed to assess whether additional vaccines currently or previously licensed against Ebola Zaire could offer some cross-protection against severe illness and death during the current rapidly growing outbreak of Bundibugyo Ebola. Specifically, the funding will go to teams at the University of California, Los Angeles in the United States; the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium; the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom; and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research in the United Kingdom. The research teams will use blood samples from vaccinated individuals to assess immune responses and potential cross-reactivity of antibody responses, helping establish and standardize antibody tests for Bundibugyo, inform interpretation of clinical trial results, and guide future strategies. These research initiatives will support trials during the current outbreak and complement ongoing efforts to develop Bundibugyo-specific vaccines. 

August 24, 2026Dear Director Kratsios,  On behalf of the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), a nonpartisan coalition of more than 50 organizations committed to advancing research and development (R&D) for global health technologies, we congratulate the United States on its leadership of the G20 and its prioritization of innovation, scientific advancement, and economic growth. American leadership in science and technology has long helped drive breakthroughs that strengthen US competitiveness and security while improving lives around the world, and we appreciate your leadership in advancing this important agenda. The upcoming G20 Innovation Ministerial presents a timely opportunity to reinforce this legacy. As G20 members and stakeholders convene to identify policies that promote innovation, health technologies offer a tangible example of how these priorities can work together. US-led investments in diagnostics, therapeutics, , and other health technologies have not only helped address global health challenges, but have strengthened America’s innovation ecosystem, supported domestic jobs and economic activity, and helped build resilience against health threats that can quickly reach American communities and supply chains. The return on these investments is substantial. Between 2007 and 2022, $46 billion in US, public funding for global health R&D generated $104 billion in economic activity and approximately 600,000 US jobs, while the resulting research is expected to catalyze an additional $102 billion in industry investment. Our analysis projects that these investments could ultimately generate approximately $255 billion for the US economy. These returns underscore that public investment in health R&D is not simply an investment in global security but an investment in American science, industry, and innovation. We therefore encourage the United States to consider how the G20’s innovation agenda can preserve and build upon existing efforts that advance health technology R&D. We respectfully encourage the United States to:Recognize health technology R&D as a component of the G20’s broader innovation agenda, including in the Innovation Ministerial communiqué, with attention to emerging technologies, scientific discovery, artificial intelligence (AI), and the translation of research into products that strengthen health and economic resilience. Support policies that sustain the full R&D pipeline, from basic and applied research through product development, clinical evaluation, regulatory pathways, manufacturing, and deployment, recognizing the complementary roles of public investment and private-sector capital. Encourage public-private partnerships that crowd in private investment for high-impact health technologies where public funding can help de-risk early-stage research, ensure late-stage innovations cross the finish line, and create opportunities for commercial investment and scale. Build on existing G20 work on local and regional production and innovation, including the Global Coalition for Local and Regional Production, Innovation, and Equitable Access, to strengthen resilient manufacturing and supply chains while expanding opportunities for innovation and investment across G20 economies.We believe these priorities align closely with the United States’ stated goal of returning the G20 to its core mission of driving economic growth and prosperity. They also complement the Administration’s broader focus on American leadership in AI and science-driven innovation, including efforts to harness AI to accelerate scientific discovery.  GHTC has had the opportunity to raise these issues with Emory Cox, G7 and G20 Sherpa and Special Assistant to the President, and we appreciate the Administration’s consideration of the innovation agenda. We would be pleased to serve as a trusted resource to your team as the Innovation Ministerial approaches and as the United States continues its G20 and G7 leadership. We wish you and your team a successful Innovation Ministerial and look forward to supporting the United States’ continued leadership in this critical time.   Best,   Dr. Kristie MikusExecutive DirectorGlobal Health Technologies Coalition

On August 19, Cosette Audi joined GHTC as our new US Policy & Advocacy Officer. GHTC’s Deputy Director Marissa Chmiola and Communications Coordinator Hannah Sachs-Wetstone sat down with Cosette to find more about her and her interests. 1. What first sparked your interest in the field of global health research and development (R&D) advocacy, and what inspires you about this line of work? In my first job, at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, I advocated to increase the inclusion of pregnant women and children in research. This work really opened my eyes to the persistent challenges that slow the development of new technologies to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases—especially for people living in low resource settings. I am really inspired by the potential scientific breakthroughs that we could see in the next decade. More effective vaccines, better tests, shorter courses of treatment—all of these things are possible with continued investment in global health R&D. I feel lucky to do my small part to help make these lifesaving tools a reality.  2. What drew you to GHTC?In both my previous roles, I have been at organizations that are GHTC members and have loved working with the coalition to advance global health R&D. I’m excited to now be a member of the team! 3. As you begin your role, what are you most excited to contribute and learn at GHTC?I am eager to learn from the expertise of GHTC’s members. One of my favorite things about being an advocate is translating complex technical jargon into something clear and understandable for policymakers. I look forward to really getting “in the weeds” of R&D. 4. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time outside work?I love to read, craft, and go to the movies with my husband.