In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. As the DC summer kicks into full swing, Congress has had a busy month moving forward fiscal year (FY) 2015 funding legislation for a variety of government programs including global health research and development (R&D). Last week, both the House and Senate State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) appropriations subcommittees held mark-ups of their draft bills. Unfortunately, the results were lukewarm for many global health R&D programs. Sens. Cardin (D-MD), Boozman (R-AR), and Coons (D-DE), along with Reps. Castro (D-TX) and McCaul (R-TX) have introduced legislation to authorize the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Global Development Lab. The Lab would expand innovative public-private partnerships focused on ending extreme poverty. A group of 35 leading scientists have come together to explore new strategies to accelerate vaccine development for deadly diseases such as malaria, HIV, tuberculosis. The scientists are part of a new initiative—called the Human Vaccines Project—aimed at paving a road map of the human immune system to help researchers speed up the development of vaccines for existing and emerging diseases. SciDev.Net reports that despite the fact that the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Re:Search project has brokered at least 60 partnerships to facilitate patent sharing between owners and researchers since 2011, no new drugs or therapies are in development as of today. However, Thomas Bombelles—head of global health at WIPO—says the creation of partnerships is an important first step and that WIPO now has funding to build research capacity in low- and middle-income countries, as well as aid information flow. USAID has released its report to Congress on its global health programs during FY 2013. The report describes the agency’s work to “end extreme poverty through its contributions in global health by ending preventable child and maternal deaths, creating an AIDS-free generation, and protecting communities from infectious diseases.” Pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson will collaborate to develop a new HIV treatment that will require only a single pill. If the trials are successful, the new treatment could offer a less toxic alternative to the current therapies available to treat HIV.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Last week, the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosted a panel on the occasion of the release of its summary report, Strategic US Leadership—Essential to Address the Global Tuberculosis Pandemic, which examines US approaches to tackling tuberculosis (TB) both in the United States and abroad. The report concludes that the United States needs to better lead, coordinate, and prioritize its TB efforts, as well as create robust, long-term research partnerships with key institutions in select emerging economies to promote the discovery and development of new TB tools. GHTC member PATH has been awarded a three-year, US$15.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop effective treatments for severe acute secretory diarrhea (ASD). The new grant will support a portfolio approach to drug development in an effort to maximize the chances of successful drug candidates to treat ASD, as well as support new engagement with the public and private sectors. Last week, the US House of Representatives introduced the End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act in an effort to turn the tide in the fight against neglected tropical diseases. The bill was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and already has bipartisan support from Reps. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Greg Meeks (D-NY).   Osman Sankoh, executive director of INDEPTH, emphasized the important role of research and innovation for development in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in The Lancet Global Health Blog. Sankoh writes that “stronger international commitment to investing in research, development, and innovation in LMICs” is crucial in the post-2015 development agenda. He added that “research into health threats not only saves lives—it also helps governments and donors to save money.” Scientists at Imperial College London have created genetically-modified mosquitoes that produce 95 percent male offspring with the goal of helping control malaria. They believe introducing these mosquitoes into the normal mosquito population could lead to a shortage of females and a crash in overall population, thus reducing malaria incidences. GHTC member Aeras has released a new film exploring the TB crisis in the mines of South Africa. The film—called Undermined—looks at “the river of TB flowing out from the mines, and why a vaccine is critical to the global fight against this disease.”

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Yesterday, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced in the US Senate a significant piece of global health legislation that would strengthen global health research programming within the US Agency for International Development and improve coordination of global health research and development across the US government. The legislation—known as the 21st Century Global Health Technology Act—is companion legislation to the House version of the bill, HR 1515, which was introduced by Representatives Albio Sires (D-NJ) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) in April 2013. Knight Therapeutics—the developer of a new treatment for the parasitic disease leishmaniasis—is looking to be the first company to auction off the priority review voucher it received from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company received this voucher—which it can redeem to have any drug moved to the front of FDA’s line for product review—following the approval of its leishmaniasis drug Impavido in late March. A Guardian article on the vaccine cold chain discusses the logistical challenges for the global health community in delivering and administering vaccines—which require constant refrigeration for efficacy—in environments with unreliable electricity and infrastructure. It calls for the next generation of vaccines to be developed with the goal of eliminating a burdensome cold chain and notes the success of the MenAfriVac™ vaccine for meningitis which can be used for up to four days outside the cold chain. During the World Health Assembly, UNITAID, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, and the Medicines Patent Pool launched a new initiative to develop and deliver improved treatments for children suffering from HIV and AIDS. The initiative–known as the Paediatric HIV Treatment Initiative (PHTI)–will focus on three areas: (1) research and development; (2) intellectual property; and (3) market-shaping to ensure availability of treatment regiments for children living with HIV and AIDS. The World Health Organization released a new document on its efforts to find innovative financing for neglected diseases. The documents states there is a $50 million budget line for demonstration projects and the Global Health R&D Observatory over four years, but did not make clear where the observatory would be situated.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Joanne Carter—executive director of RESULTS Education Fund—writes about the negative impact the proposed fiscal year (FY) 2015 federal budgets cuts could have on the development of new treatments for tuberculosis (TB). The President’s FY 2015 budget has proposed a $45 million cut—or 19 percent reduction—to the US Agency for International Development’s TB budget. On the occasion of the first meeting on the world’s Global Health Security Agenda this week, Tom Frieden—director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—and Andy Weber—assistant secretary of defense—wrote a feature on CNN about why global health security matters to the US. They highlight the $40 million commitment by CDC and the Department of Defense to enable its 12 partner countries to strengthen their ability to prevent, detect, and effectively respond to infectious disease threats worldwide. The International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) announced this week that it has received the exclusive worldwide rights to dapivirine—a promising HIV prevention medicine—from Janssen R&D Ireland, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. This represents an expansion of IPM’s existing rights to develop, manufacture, and bring to market dapivrine-based products for women in resource-poor countries. The Washington Post Innovations Blog notes five reasons why we should be worried about the future of American innovation. It discusses how unstable and inadequate spending on research and development will stymie the future of scientific research and innovation. This week, the Council of the European Union approved the participation of the European Union in the second program of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership. The second program will support all stages of clinical trials, from Phase I to IV, for HIV and AIDS, TB, malaria and neglected tropical diseases. The Washington Post Editorial Board argues that time is short to address antibiotic resistance in response to the World Health Organization’s warning last week that resistance to antibiotics has become a “major threat to public health.” The article notes that the overuse of antibiotics has bred drug resistance and that few new antibiotics are in the development pipeline to remedy the problem.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. This week, pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced that its experimental vaccine against dengue fever has successfully completed its first late-stage clinical trial. The vaccine was proven to reduce the incidence of dengue fever by 56 percent in trial participants in Southeast Asia. Trevor Mundel—president of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—wrote this week in Impatient Optimists about the tremendous progress being made in global health research and development (R&D). At this year’s Product Development Forum in Seattle, more than 500 participants gathered together to talk about what is needed to accelerate the development and delivery of high-impact health innovations to those who need them most. Last week, several hundred people came together to celebrate significant achievements in vaccinology over the past two decades and to examine solutions for overcoming remaining hurdles at the Sabin Vaccine Institute’s 20th Anniversary Scientific Symposium. Hosted at the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, DC, it was an energized room filled with visionary leaders from humanitarian and health organizations, nongovernmental organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and academia. Johnson & Johnson has announced its affiliate Janssen Pharmaceuticals has entered into a partnership with the Stop TB Partnership to facilitate access to its tuberculosis treatments. This public-private partnership was established by the newly formed Janssen Global Public Health group.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. GHTC member TB Alliance and partners announced this week that they have advanced the first-ever drug regimen designed to treat both drug-sensitive and some forms of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) to a global Phase III clinical trial. The drug regimen—called PaMZ—is expected to reduce the cost of multi-drug resistant TB treatment by over 90 percent in some countries. This week in Seattle, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation convened the Global Health Product Development Forum—where more than 500 people will discuss how funders, researchers, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector can work together to accelerate the development and delivery of life-saving products. The United Kingdom has launched a five-year, £375 million fund to support science and innovation partnerships with researchers in low- and middle-income countries. The new fund will support joint research projects, student and researcher fellowships, capacity building, and translational research. The Kaiser Family Foundation has created an infographic that shows global health funding’s share of the US federal budget. The infographic highlights the recent flattening of US funding for global health and the major areas US global health funding goes to.