Since taking up the role of CEO at BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) on February 1, I have met with dozens of people -- some new acquaintances, and many established colleagues and friends -- in the biopharmaceutical, government, and NGO fields to get their perspectives on trends in global health and determine the best ways for BVGH to complement these diverse players in our collective work to end neglect and save lives in the developing world. My recent travels have taken me to the Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases event led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in London (see related article below), the White House briefing on recent innovations for global development, and the Burrill Digital Health Conference in San Francisco, among others.

 

After my first four weeks, I'm excited to report that we have already sketched out a promising upcoming course of action.

 

This year, BVGH will work on strengthening our banner programs -- from our hallmark Global Health Primer to the recently launched WIPO Re:Search -- and exploring other new ways to help speed the development of novel drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases and deliver them to the people who need it most.

 

To better support decision making across the global health research and development landscape this year, we are continuing to expand the Global Health Primer by adding new target technology profiles on diagnostics, among other new information. We will also soon publish in-depth analyses of the Primer data to shed light on who's doing what in neglected disease research and development, with other analyses planned for later in the year.

 

With a passion for innovation, BVGH has worked since its inception to find new ways for science and technology to drive new solutions for the world's greatest unmet health needs. In pursuit of that mission, BVGH recently joined the mHealth Alliance, and our team is excited to identify new ways we can support innovation in the realm of mobile technology to benefit the developing world. Our team is also working to find new ways for neglected disease researchers to connect, share ideas, and collaborate to develop creative new solutions for these diseases, which impair the lives of 1 billion people, primarily in the global South.

 

I look forward to working with many of you on finding new ways to promote scientific innovation to save lives worldwide.

 

Warm regards, 

 

Don Joseph, CEO

On January 30, a coalition of 13 pharmaceutical companies and the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates came together with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and other global health organizations to launch a new initiative, Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), to support the 2020 goals set by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its "Roadmap for Implementation" report. Backed by industry experts, high-level policymakers, and key endemic country institutions, this new initiative aims to eradicate Guinea worm disease and to expedite the process of eliminating lymphatic filariasis, blinding trachoma, African sleeping sickness, and leprosy. The coalition will also ramp up efforts to control soil-transmitted helminths, schistosomiasis, river blindness, Chagas disease, and visceral leishmaniasis. BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) is proud to have joined this effort under the London Declaration.

 

A key partner in the coalition, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) leverages its public and private partnerships worldwide, including in endemic countries, and its own expertise in diseases such as leishmaniasis, Chagas diseases, and African sleeping sickness to progress towards the 2020 goals. BVGH spoke with Jean-Pierre Paccaud, Business Development Director at DNDi, about why DNDi believes this new initiative could change the lives of patients living in the developing world.

 

How did the Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases initiative get started?

The initiative started with WHO fixing the 2020 goals. Uniting to Combat NTDs was catalyzed in support of these goals initially by the Gates Foundation's annual CEO Roundtable, which mobilizes the pharmaceutical industry to find new strategic ways to contribute to global health and, in particular, to neglected tropical diseases. Nonetheless, the initiative quickly became a true coalition, driven and owned by all of the partners collectively, including pharmaceutical companies, NGOs, public and private donors, academia, product development partnerships (PDPs), and endemic countries.

 

The goals set by Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases are quite ambitious. What will it take to achieve them?

Uniting to Combat NTDs is backed by commitments from industry as well as key global health and funding institutions, and endemic countries, which signal the intentions of these organizations to actively participate in the mission. Actually reaching these goals will require the private and public sectors within NTD-endemic and non-endemic countries to work tightly together. The tools we have today are not entirely adequate to meet these goals, and it's not going to be easy, but I believe that the bar being set very high should drive people to do their very best.

 

Why is it important for DNDi -- and for the broader neglected tropical disease community -- to develop cross-sector partnerships?

PDPs in general have been successful at developing many products, and have for the most part mastered the research and development aspect -- from pre-clinical to clinical work -- while taking on the challenging risks associated with developing these novel medical products for neglected diseases. However, the final step, product industrialization -- including manufacturing, registration, distribution, and follow-up -- is not something that many PDPs can do. So, Uniting to Combat NTDs may help the private sector to understand that its main contribution may be to drive product accessibility, while the PDPs will continue to take on the riskier aspects of drug and vaccine development by reexamining failures in research and development and paving new paths forward.

 

How does DNDi work with endemic-country institutions, and why is it important to involve them in your work?

Working with endemic country institutions and governments is essential to understanding the diseases -- and not just the biology of the infection but also the entire context in which the disease takes place -- where patients are located, how you can reach them, the strengths and limitations of the country's health system and the probability of getting patients their medicine within that system. One example of DNDi's success is with the development of clinical trial platforms for leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness, and Chagas disease. These platforms bring together the key players in the region -- not only hospitals and universities but ministries of health, too. Our platform for sleeping sickness has become an essential tool for clinical trials because we've been working closely with local partners since the beginning, reinforcing and building capacities along the way. I think that every neglected tropical disease should be tackled initially from the perspective of the country of origin and not through a projection of what others think is good for them.

 

To learn more about Uniting to Combat NTDs, visit www.unitingtocombatntds.org.