Kim Lufkin

Ever feel like you can’t see the forest for the trees? In everyday life, it’s easy to get bogged down in details. This can be especially true in a field like drug development where it can take ten years (under the best circumstances) or more to see your work come to fruition. In this guest post, PATH’s Drug Development program asked its staff to reflect on the question, “What comes to mind when you think of drug development?” A few of their responses appear below. This is the third and final post in a three-part series on drug development. You can read part 1 here, and part 2 here. Want to join the conversation? We’d love to hear your thoughts on drug development! Leave your feedback in the comments below or tweet us @GHTCoalition or @OneWorldHealth using #DrugDev101.

In a notable move for global health research efforts, Australia this week announced funding for four groups developing new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria and tuberculosis (TB). The funding was provided by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) under the Medical Research Strategy, which outlines how Australia will invest in medical research and development (R&D) to improve health in the Asia Pacific region. The AUD$10 million in funding went to four product development partnerships (PDPs)—Aeras, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, and TB Alliance. This new funding marks the first time that Australia has invested in PDPs, a noteworthy step that illustrates Australia’s changing global health and international development strategy. Australia this week announced funding for four groups developing new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria and TB. The funding was provided by AusAID under the Medical Research Strategy. Photo credit: PATH/Evelyn Hockstein According to Nick Chapman, senior analyst at the Australian global health group Policy Cures, the AusAID funding represents the country’s growing recognition that product development is a key element of global health programming. He adds that the investment in four global PDPs marks a changing strategy for how Australia funds health research. “This is the first time Australia is committing to funding best-in-world research—not just domestic academic researchers—and also is a significant boost to its product development funding, as Australian investment has traditionally been very skewed to basic research,” he said, adding, “We hope that an expanded Medical Research Strategy will help form part of a more rational funding landscape for global health R&D in Australia. The key challenge in the short term is ensuring that its future is secure under what is likely to be a new government come September.” This new funding from Australia could also have significant implications for global health R&D funding on a broader scale. Australia emerged from the global recession with a “relatively healthy economy and with a growing aid budget,” Chapman noted. Therefore, the country is “actually very well placed to increase its funding for global health R&D.” Additionally, Australia is one of only a few governments in recent years to fund PDPs for the first time. This is significant, as funding from other governments, such as the United States, for global health and product development programs is increasingly at risk. "AusAID should be congratulated for its commitment to funding best-in-world research, and for playing an important role in increasing Australia's investment in product development,” Chapman said. “We hope that amount of funding available under the Medical Research Strategy continues to increase so that its impact can be fully realized." This week also saw new funding for PDPs from the United Kingdom through its Department for International Development—more welcome news for global health research and innovation. It is critical that other governments follow the example set by Australia and the United Kingdom and increase their support for global health product development—a particularly important message for the US Congress when it returns next month to continue debating the fiscal year 2014 budget. Kim Lufkin is the GHTC’s communications officer.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development has announced it is investing £138 million—or approximately $215 million—over the next five years into nine public-private partnerships to support the development of new drugs, vaccines, insecticides, diagnostic tools, and microbicides. In the newest issue of Frontlines, the online magazine from the US Agency for International Development, the agency looks back at some of its most successful projects—several of which involved investments in innovation, research, and development. Belgian scientists have taken early steps toward the development of a new drug to treat sleeping sickness. Ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly next month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has released a report with updates on the Millennium Development Goals and next steps. The Global Post reports on an in-depth research project examining diarrheal disease in the developing world, which could be used to help develop new vaccines and other tools against childhood diarrhea.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. A potential malaria vaccine has shown promising results in early stage clinical trials, researchers announced this week. Bloomberg reports on efforts to develop the first vaccine for dengue fever. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Aeras have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance research and development for new vaccines to prevent tuberculosis. The University of Washington has received $9.6 million grant from the Department of Defense to continue work developing a diagnostic test for infectious diseases in low-resource settings. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tentatively approved India-based pharmaceutical company Strides Arcolab’s HIV drug. Legislation recently introduced in the US House of Representatives would amend a five-year exclusivity provision for new combination drugs approved by the FDA. Think Africa Press examines how a new treatment for visceral leishmaniasis, under development by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, could help patients in Kenya.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and partners recently announced nominees for the Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development initiative. In related news, plans are “taking shape to merge two offices” at USAID to create an institute that would test and scale up “technologies and innovations to spark major development breakthroughs,” Devex reports. The Treatment Action Group and HIV-iBase have released the 2013 Pipeline report, which calls on leaders in global health, government, and research to commit to and coordinate efforts that will expedite access to effective diagnostic, treatment, and prevention tools. The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) and Zydus, India’s fourth largest healthcare group, will partner to develop IDRI’s visceral leishmaniasis vaccine candidate. An op-ed in The Guardian by Dr. Anurag Mairal, global program leader of Technology Solutions at PATH, examines the importance of public-private partnerships for global health. “Our nation’s research ecosystem is now in a precarious state as a result of federal policies and proposals that continue to undermine medical innovation,” John Edward Porter, chair of Research!America’s Board of Directions, writes about sequestration in a new op-ed.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Representatives of major pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States have pledged to release detailed data about their drugs to outside researchers. The World Health Organization has prequalified a new vaccine against Japanese Encephalitis, biopharmaceutical company Biological E announced this week. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations released its fiscal year 2014 funding levels for global health programs, which includes support for research programs at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department. In related news, Foreign Policy reports that global health and development advocates are “reeling” from a House Appropriations Committee bill that would slash funding for several key international assistance programs. USAID and the National Institutes of Health announced funding for 16 new health research projects in 10 countries under the agencies’ Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research Health program. Following the African Union Special Summit earlier this month, leaders pledged to work toward the elimination of HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in Africa by 2030. Key components of this pledge include supporting vaccine development, scaling up investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and enhancing access to affordable and quality medicines.