The BIO International Convention provides distraction at every corner, but at Tuesday morning’s session on vaccines for the developing world, all eyes were on Erik Iverson, Associate General Counsel of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bill and Melinda Gates recently pledged $10 billion over the next ten years to vaccines, creating the “decade of vaccines.” The ten billion dollar question, of course, is what will the Foundation do with these funds?
Right now, all options are still on the table. Iverson said that it remains unclear where in the vaccine research field the Foundation will decide to invest the money. At the top of the agenda is an HIV vaccine, but according to Iverson, the Foundation is also looking carefully “across the entire spectrum” of needs—from capacity building, to technology transfer, to regulatory harmonization, to broader policy goals.
What is clear is that the need for financing for vaccine research and capacity building is unmistakable. Panelists listed their myriad priorities. These concerns included additional resources, training, and funding for discovery, lab work, clinical trials, approval, manufacture, and delivery of vaccines. Each of the panelists mentioned that innovative financing mechanisms and new incentives are also important.
Martin Friede, of the World Health Organization, also reminded the audience—and I will interject that this is a good reminder to readers as well—that “when we talk about capacity building in developing countries, we mean not only the capacity to manufacture vaccines but also the capacity to make decisions of what to do.” In order for vaccine manufacturing to be sustainable, developing country governments, companies, and scientists must be involved in all stages of work.
This type of partnership will require the cooperation and support of developing country governments, as well as continued financial support from wealthy nations.
Ultimately, the Gates Foundation hopes the $10 billion will serve to leverage other funds. “Ten billion dollars is really only a drop in the bucket,” Iverson emphasized.
Panelist Rita Khanna, General Counsel of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, agreed, pointing to an $8 million grant from the Gates Foundation that Aeras was able to use to gain further funding. In this particular case, $8 million turned into $16 million, with
additional funding from multiple partners.
Given that, I have extremely high hopes for this ten billion.
Thayer Hardwick is a Research Analyst at BIO Ventures for Global Health.