The Partnering for Global Health Forum kicks off May 3rd. Over the course of a week, this Forum will connect people and ideas to show the compelling need for global health innovation. Our hope is that we also go one step further that week, and define a way to collectively move from where we are today to a healthier global population. Improving the health of people in poor countries is, after all, our ultimate goal. So how we do that with a conference?
In order to most effectively connect innovators in global health, academia, and the biopharmaceutical industry, the conference is divided into two sections. The first section includes one day of high-level panels and plenary sessions and the second includes three days of one-on-one partnering meetings to uncover potential for collaborating on new technologies, new product development, and new funding. In the Forum’s one day of panel sessions, we’ve focused on a number of key topics that we think will provide insight, inspiration, and a concrete call to action for the biopharmaceutical and global health communities.
The first panel of the day will take a look at the drug development pipeline, particularly how it varies for developing world products as opposed to developed world products. We will hear from representatives from each stage of the pipeline – from academia to big pharma – to look at some of the challenges of translational medicine for global health, as well as some potential solutions.
Our second panel will bring BIO Ventures for Global Health’s recent publication Global Health Innovators: A Collection of Case Studies live to the stage. We’ll take a deep dive into one of the business models featured in the report and one from an upcoming study. Presenting companies and their partners will provide insight into their partnership structures, how global health product development has supported their core commercial strategies, and the strategic value that each gains from this effort.
The third panel will allow us a peek inside the boardroom, with an interactive discussion amongst senior executives from biotech and pharma to determine which of the current and proposed research and development incentives for global health are the most compelling. They will share what impact each incentive — individually or in tandem — would have on a company’s decision-making process.
We’ll round out the day with a fourth panel focused on the booming field of emerging markets. While emerging markets aren’t brand new, more and more companies are seeking opportunities to support their commercial strategies by working with developing world companies and manufacturers. We will hear some lessons learned from companies actively engaged in that space, as well as from some emerging market representatives on their experiences with U.S. and European companies.
These panels should prime attendees for what we consider to be the main event – three full days of partnering meetings at the BIO Business Forum. The partnering portion of the meeting is where the real action will happen, where people will sit down together and discuss real ways to move their technologies, products, or expertise forward. Our hope is that the call to action repeated throughout the programming on Monday will be firmly answered in the days that follow.
To register or learn more about the Partnering for Global Health Forum, visit the Web site: pgh.bio.org.
Jennifer Manganello is Development Associate at BIO Ventures for Global Health.