How to Come Up with a Drug Research and Development Model that Responds to Public Health Needs?

On October 27 and 28, the Open Society Foundations and the University of Essex organized a meeting in New York entitled "Rethinking the economics behind the medical innovation model: ensuring needs-driven R&D that maximizes health impact in a cost-effective way". The meeting was attended by Gonzalo Fanjul, Director of Analysis and Joan Bigorra, Director of Strategy and Innovation, both at ISGlobal, as well as representatives of other academic institutions such as the University of Paris and the Harvard Medical School, and international organizations such as Doctors without Borders and the Initiative for Medicines Access and Knowledge (I-MAK

The recent Ebola crisis highlighted the huge deficiencies in the current model for medical innovation: most new medicines have no added therapeutic value while critical medical needs (such as emerging infectious diseases or multi-drug resistant infections) remain unmet.  In addition, the challenge of unaffordable medicine prices affects not only middle and low-income countries, but also the wealthy countries.   

One of the core problems of the current model lies in the fact that the "public value" notion does not determine the rate or direction of medical innovation. During the two days of the meeting, the gathered experts debated on the economic arguments, the incentives and the scientific questions that will help define, measure and reward innovation medical innovation with high health impact, as well as the role of public and private sectors to make it happen.   

Redefining the drug innovation and access model is an issue on which ISGlobal is actively working on.   It recently created a work group that includes experts in different areas, from scientific research to regulatory matters, with the aim of building on the institution's experience in generation and translation of scientific knowledge and become an "honest broker" in the debate on innovation.  The work group will, among other activities, advice the steering committe on innovation and access issues and will establish an agenda to define its internal and external position on such themes. Along the same line, ISGlobal participates in the campaign "It´s not healthy" by calling for more transparency in public investment in drug research and purchase, and promoting an evidence-based public and political debate on the current R&D model and its impact on the access to drugs and the sustainability of the health system.