May News from BIO Ventures for Global Health

It was a beautiful day overlooking Lake Michigan as 250 global health, biopharmaceutical, academic, and donor organization leaders gathered to dissect neglected disease product development and discuss how to increase investment in global health research and development. The occasion was the 2010 Partnering for Global Health Forum, co-hosted by BIO Ventures for Global Health and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

The day had many highlights. The group heard from keynote speakers Dr. Regina Rabinovich, Director of Infectious Diseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Dr. Nils Daulaire, Director of Global Health Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Rabinovich set the tone for the day by describing her vision of a little girl who could grow up without the fear of death from a tropical disease. "The Partnering for Global Health Forum has much to offer to make that vision a reality," she said. Dr. Daulaire used examples from his years of international development experience from the country to global level to outline how innovation and technology has made a difference and can be expanded upon to save many more lives in the future.

Jim Greenwood, President and CEO of BIO, was on hand in the morning to make a groundbreaking policy statement on how biotech companies can further contribute to improving access to medicines in the developing world. He was joined by David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO), who called upon those gathered at the Forum to propose incentives to his office that would spur investment in global health. "In the Obama administration, we are committed to these [access to medicines in the developing world] principles. We believe governments can, and will, provide incentives to help eliminate these diseases in developing countries," he said.

Dr. Hannah Kettler, Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, led a boisterous panel discussion on the potential for various market-based incentives to make an impact on a biotech company's decision to invest in neglected disease product development. The group unanimously agreed that more incentives are needed to encourage companies to invest in global health.

Gabriela Cezar, Venture Partner at Burrill & Company and a speaker on the emerging markets panel commented, "We are seeing a paradigm shift. Emerging markets are not only acting as absorbers and consumers of medicines, but are also having a more active role in being a source of innovation to fulfill those pipelines." This was echoed by Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Chair of the Technology Innovation Agency created by the South African government, who said that "without local partners, multinational companies cannot tap into the [emerging economy] markets."

The event preceded the BIO International Convention, which was in full swing Tuesday morning. Partnering for Global Health attendees took part in more than 200 one-on-one partnering meetings at the BIO Business Forum, Tuesday through Thursday. Eleven funding organizations, including Commons Capital, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave presentations on their organization's strategic objectives. A full list of presenting organizations is available on the Forum Web site: pgh.bio.org.

To learn more about this year's Forum, visit the BVGH Web site.

To view an archived webcast of the Forum, visit - http://pgh2010.dynamicwebcasting.net/. Select 'Begin Webcast,' and then 'Open On Demand Panel Selection' at the bottom of the page.