Bringing
Biotechnology to Developing Countries
Nonprofit Set Up to Overcome Barriers to Addressing Neglected
Diseases
By Lois M. Baron
BIO, in conjunction with the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, has formed
a nonprofit entity to bring biotechnology into the
global health arena. BIO Ventures for Global Health
(BVGH) is charged with accelerating the development,
distribution and accessibility of biotech products
that address developing-world diseases.
People often attribute industry's underinvestment
to the lack of available funding and poor expected
market returns. But other conditions complicate operating
in these markets. Fragmented networks of resources
and information needed to support product development
and companies' inexperience with testing, purchasing
and distribution channels in these different markets
create substantial barriers to entry.
BVGH will tackle these issues as it finds ways to
make global health "business-friendly."
The idea for BVGH evolved from BIO's Global
Health Partnering Conference held with the Gates Foundation
in late 2002.
"It was really encouraging to see so many companies' genuine
interest and desire to work on developing world diseases," says
Wendy Taylor, an organizer of the 2002 conference and
now BVGH executive director.
"We saw a gap," says Russell Howard, CEO
of Maxygen and a BIO board member, "between philanthropic
funding for discovery and the large pharmaceutical
companies that have the funding to actually manufacture
the [products]."
Dr. J. Leighton Read, a biotech entrepreneur and BVGH
board member, says, "BVGH represents the first
organization focused on bringing private sector companies
into the challenge of global health in a way that understands
the economic responsibilities to shareholders."
In a recent interview with BVGH
Report, Dr. Richard
D. Klausner, director of the Gates Foundation Global
Health Program, acknowledged the difficulty of operating
in these markets. It's not just about "who
is going to pay," he says. "It's
about prices and volume and predictability. We need
to develop predictable markets and make sure there
are pathways, so products can get to the people who
need them."
Getting Started
BIO Ventures will do the legwork to
focus biotechnologies on the developing world's
health problems. Howard, who helped shape BVGH, predicts
that with a very focused approach, BVGH will deliver
on its initial goals, thereby attracting more philanthropic
funds and companies wanting to work through it.
"BVGH is not a quick fix," he says. "It's
a five- to 10-year plan." He expects it to succeed
because it's building on three strong entities — the
Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and BIO.
An initial BVGH priority is to create a series of
business cases for developing-world products. "These
business cases will identify viable markets where they
exist and map out clinical, regulatory and distribution
pathways for the products," Taylor says. The
cases will also describe partnership strategies and
potential financing options.
"We hope these business cases will serve as
important catalysts for product development, highlighting
real business opportunities for companies with relevant
technologies," she says.
BVGH also recognizes the urgent need for R&D funding.
It is establishing a financing mechanism to help companies
access new funds. Guided by the same priorities used
in selecting the initial business cases, BVGH will
identify the most promising development projects and
seek funding from foundations to support product development.
For example, if BVGH does a business case on a cholera
vaccine, it will also seek to fund a cholera vaccine
project.
Funded projects will receive scientific, financial
technical assistance and support tailored to their
individual needs.
But assistance is not limited to projects sponsored
by BVGH. The nonprofit also plans to create an online
resource for product developers that pulls together
a wealth of information, including market assessments,
funding sources, ideal product profiles, a global health
R&D pipeline and other useful tools.
In addition, the organization will produce a quarterly
newsletter, BVGH Report, to highlight R&D progress,
successful business models and new business opportunities.
A Vision of Success
BIO President Carl B. Feldbaum
calls BVGH's approach
to the global health problem "a whole new concept." Although
solving the global health issue is a tough nut to crack,
in terms of the R&D and distribution, in the long
run, Feldbaum believes the foundation will find a way
to make underfunded and neglected diseases viewed as
a commercial opportunity.
"By being able to access BIO's extensive
experience and expertise in the field and business
connections, BVGH has an important head start in accomplishing
its mission," he says.
BIO's tools, resources and networks — including
in-licensing, partnering, regulatory and financial
opportunities — will be extremely valuable in
demonstrating to companies and investors market-based
solutions for developing world products and will greatly
expand opportunities for companies working through
BVGH.
Klausner is optimistic about BVGH's effectiveness: "The
biggest lesson we've learned [from other private-public
partnerships] is the importance of having a neutral
and trusted forum where multiple partners can sit down
and exchange honest information about needs, resources,
anxieties, barriers and problems. That is one of the
purposes BVGH will serve."
Taylor encourages businesses and individuals to volunteer
with BVGH. "Finally, more attention is being
paid to global health issues," she says. "Now
we need to put the best minds to work across many different
sectors to ensure our efforts are successful."
Companies can get involved as advisers as BVGH builds
its business cases, Read says. "And a company
with technology it suspects would be useful against
neglected diseases, but where investment is being delayed,
should seek BVGH help in understanding if there's
a credible business case to be made."
Howard says, "Biotech people want to change
the world. We have the technology, enthusiasm, and
infrastructure." BVGH will help provide a fiscally
responsible way for biotechnology companies to enter
this arena.
For more information regarding BVGH, go to www.bvgh.org
or contact (202) 312-9260.
Lois Baron is a freelance writer based in Arlington,
Va.
