August News from BIO Ventures for Global Health

While the long-awaited U.S. debt ceiling compromise saved the U.S. government from total shutdown, the impact of the debt reduction act on some government programs -- including those in global health, and research and development into new biopharmaceutical technologies -- is not yet known.

The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) Director Kaitlin Christenson spoke with BIO Ventures for Global Health about what the consequences of the debt reduction legislation may be for agencies such as the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and how funding that has propelled the development of promising drugs and vaccines must be preserved to improve the lives of people in America and around the world.

While the debt ceiling is predicted to save the U.S. government from completely stalling out, legislators are taking a sharp look at ways to cut government spending as much as possible. What effect could that have on global health programs, especially as it relates to biotech innovation for global health?

It's clear that the debt reduction negotiations are going to have an impact on all programs across the board -- including those in global health. I think that we're likely to see broad cuts that have significant impact in the global health sphere both within the State Department and within agencies like the NIH and CDC, all of which play a critical role in developing products that fit the needs of those living in America and abroad.

It's not obviously apparent that the NIH and CDC greatly impact global health. How do these agencies contribute to global health, and how will they be impacted by this legislation?

The NIH is the leading agency -- and the leader across the world -- in research that benefits global populations. In the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, which has already been enacted, the NIH sees some cuts. Our fear is that the new debt reduction legislation will force cuts beyond those already planned. Any additional cuts to the NIH budget will have a significant impact on our ability to produce new technologies targeting people living in the developing world. NIH and other agencies are conducting important research in the areas of malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, and diarrheal disease -- a plethora of diseases that need new attention. And all of them will be impacted if agencies are unable to provide support for research.

Can you share with me some success stories that could not have been written without U.S. funding for global health research and development?

In the past two years, we've seen some milestone results in research that will ultimately impact our ability to prevent HIV, and which could not have happened without U.S. government funding. The Department of Defense helped support an HIV vaccine candidate trial in Thailand that was a hallmark in proving that a vaccine could ultimately provide protection from HIV transmission. We saw results last year from a study supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development demonstrating for the first time proof of concept that a microbicide gel could protect women from HIV infection. And this year, the NIH released results showing that a daily oral dose of an antiretroviral could prevent HIV infection in high-risk groups. Those successes have been really critical in propelling the science of HIV prevention forward, and they demonstrate that the U.S support for global health research is paying off in a big way.

What is GHTC doing to preserve this funding, and what can those in the global health and research communities do to help preserve the funding for these important programs to Americans and those living abroad?

We recognize that right now members of Congress are in a position of having to make difficult choices, and so we're urging members to make choices that reflect the priorities of Americans, and, in our minds, that includes global health and global health research and development. I think the most important thing that the whole community can do right now is to educate members of Congress about the value of global health research and development, and underscore the successes that we've seen generated out of that investment. Today, we're on the cusp of developing the most advanced malaria candidate ever. We're seeing new advancements in tuberculosis regimens, in prevention and treatment for neglected tropical diseases -- among other technologies, so we really need to educate members of Congress about the value of this work and why it's important to protect it; why it's important in terms of an American value, in terms of security and economic impact here at home and the ability to save lives worldwide.