A New Incentive in the Battle Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases: Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV)

The Vector Expedited Review Voucher (VERV), modelled on the already established US Priority Review Voucher (PRV) for drug development, is a proposed no cost new incentive to encourage R&D focussed agriculture companies to innovate in public health where there are significant economic barriers to product innovation. The VERV would encourage companies to invest in novel insecticide development for public health, such as malaria, by rewarding the registrant of a new public health insecticide with a voucher to receive an expedited review of a second, more profitable product outside public health. Getting to market faster is valuable and gives an innovator registrant an opportunity to generate a financial return to mitigate the development cost losses on a public health use insecticide.