BIO Launches BIO Ventures for Global
Health
With Initial Grant from
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
New nonprofit will facilitate biotech investment in neglected diseases
Contact:
Victor Zonana, BVGH
+1-917-497-3939 vzonana@ghstrat.com, www.ghstrat.com
Kathy Stover, BIO +1-202-962-9232 kstover@bio.org
SAN FRANCISCO (June 7, 2004) — The Biotechnology
Industry Organization (BIO) today announced the launch
of BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH), a new nonprofit
organization that will work to enlist the biotechnology
industry in the fight against neglected diseases. BVGH
has received a $1 million start-up grant from the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation.
A bold new experiment, BVGH will work with companies,
donors and investors to bring new vaccines, therapies,
diagnostics and delivery tools to market in developing
nations. The announcement was made at BIO 2004, the biotech
industry's annual convention.
"BVGH is unique among public-private partnerships
because it is rooted in BIO and it speaks the language
of industry," said Carl B. Feldbaum, who is stepping
down as BIO's president and is a BVGH board member. "With
access to BIO's full range of tools, resources and
networks, BVGH can provide companies real strategies to
develop products for these underserved markets."
"Biotechnology is a global industry with global responsibilities," explained
BVGH Executive Director Wendy Taylor. "BIO Ventures
for Global Health will work to tap this industry's
immense potential by reaching out to donors and biotech
companies with a clear set of market-based tools and strategies
to overcome barriers to development."
Market barriers, funding barriers and information barriers
have long restricted biotechnology investment in diseases
that primarily affect populations outside of North America
and Europe. As a result, less than 10% of health research
funding is targeted to diseases that account for 90% of
the global disease burden. BVGH will work with companies
and foundations to identify market opportunities, build
new partnerships and secure funding for the most promising
new technologies to fight some of the world's most
devastating and neglected diseases.
As an initial step, BVGH is creating business cases for
specific developing world products; assessing market opportunities;
forming partnership and financing strategies; and mapping
the clinical, regulatory and distribution pathways. BVGH
will promote these business cases to catalyze product development
among companies with relevant technologies.
Recognizing the urgent need for capital to support product
development, BVGH is creating a new vehicle for funding.
With its innovative model of nonprofit sponsorship, grants
management and industrial expertise, BVGH will identify
and seek funding for the most promising product development
projects in the field and is establishing a new mechanism
for foundations and other donors to invest in these efforts.
BVGH will publish a quarterly newsletter, BVGH Report,
to serve as a resource for biotechnology companies, investors
and public-private partnerships working on global health
problems, and is launching its web site at www.bvgh.org.
The idea for BVGH grew out of discussions with companies
and foundations following BIO and the Gates Foundation's
Partnering for Global Health meeting in late 2002.
"There's great untapped potential for the
biotech sector's incredible R&D engine to develop
new health solutions for the developing world," said
Richard Klausner, MD, executive director of the Gates Foundation's
Global Health program. "We believe that BIO Ventures
for Global Health can play an important role in bringing
more biotechnology companies into the global health field."
About BIO Ventures for Global Health
BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) is a global, non-profit
entity that seeks to accelerate the development, distribution
and accessibility of biotech products that address diseases
of the developing world. BVGH will create new and enhance
existing development and investment opportunities by facilitating
the exchange of information to match developers to important
resources and partners; forming and promoting viable business
strategies for needed products; and securing funding for
projects through an innovative financing and grants management
model. More information is online at www.bvgh.org.
About the Biotechnology Industry Organization
BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies,
academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and
related organizations in all 50 U.S. states. BIO members
are involved in the research and development of health-care,
agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology
products. www.bio.org
