Global Development  recently published an overview of activities and impacts of product development partnerships (PDPs), commissioned by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO, formerly DFID). The study entitled ‘Accelerating global health R&D: the role of product development partnerships’ assesses development of new medicines and technologies for 35 poverty-related and neglected diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The findings and recommendations will help shape future investments and activities in this field for the UK government and other major government donors and philanthropies.

PDPs, including IVCC, work as virtual orchestras by acting as R&D systems facilitators, aggregating funding and technical expertise from public, private, academic and philanthropic sectors to develop vaccines, drugs and other technologies for diseases of poverty. They were formed 20 years ago to address the so-called 10/90 gap which strikingly still persists today. This gap shows that only 10% of worldwide resources devoted to health research are put towards health in developing countries, where over 90% of all preventable deaths exist, according to the findings by the Forum on Health Research for Development in 1990.  

“The Global Development report ‘Accelerating global health R&D: the role of product development partnerships’ was just published and is one of several independent PDP impact reports in the past year by different organisations, including Australia Aid and PDP Funders Group. These reports are timely as we engage in a debate about the future of PDP funding post the Covid-19 pandemic. All reports confirm that the PDP model has been one of the most successful approaches to address the need for products to tackle diseases in resource poor countries. PDPs are highly cost effective and their pipelines are robust, but that they need sustained and flexible funding to increase their impact on global health and development. The latest report confirms that the ten PDPs assessed within the context of this study have collectively brought 85 new products to market, including 3 vaccines, 27 therapeutics, 50 diagnostics or health technologies, and 5 vector control tools. PDPs are seen as ‘virtual R&D conductors’ that ‘successfully cultivate and enhance networks of partners in industry, academia, research institutes, governments and philanthropies’. PDP’s such as IVCC will continue to play a critical role in driving public/private partnerships to ensure global health security.”

Nick Hamon, CEO, IVCC

Read the full report here > 

The IVCC Annual Report 2019-2020 has been published. The report showcases IVCC’s work to facilitate innovative approaches to preventing vector-borne diseases and tackle the growing threat of insecticide resistance. With activities across the globe and spanning research and development and market access, we are accelerating the process from innovation to impact. The report is a reminder of the importance of collaborative working and the progress laid out in it is testament, too, to the commitment of our partners from industry, academia, the public sector and advocacy. We are grateful for the support of all of our funders, who make life-saving vector control possible.

“ IVCC is showing its resilience, nimbleness and adaptability to keep a constant focus on its goals and how its people will work together to overcome and rise to this unprecedented challenge of our time.”

The Right Honourable Sir Stephen O’Brien KBE
Chair, Board of Trustees, IVCC

For more information or to request a physical copy please provide your full name and postal address to Chris Larkin on christopher.larkin@ivcc.com.

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and its ARCTEC team, IVCC and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) are launching a brand new free online course on the control of vector borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and Zika virus, to help fight these diseases, which remain as prevalent and dangerous as ever during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Vector borne diseases account for 17% of all infectious diseases. In recent months, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the suspension of many national vector control programmes in disease-endemic countries, despite a plea from the World Health Organization (WHO) to government officials discouraging such action.

For example, a recent study has predicted 81,000 additional deaths in Nigeria due to the disruption to malaria control programs caused by COVID-19, further highlighting a critical need for education and training at a community level in coordinating effective vector control practices.

Progress on the control of all vector borne diseases is at great risk and now, more than ever, accurate information and education is needed to ensure vector control is not disrupted.

Now, the LSHTM and its ARCTEC team, in partnership with the IVCC and LSTM, has designed a massive open online course (MOOC) titled ‘The Global Challenge of Vector Borne Diseases and How to Control Them’.

This innovative and exciting six-week free online course will allow participants to explore the wide range of vectors and the diseases they transmit and learn about traditional and modern vector control. The course will cover state of the art vector control and importantly, participants will also learn about the suitability of vector control practices in the world today.

Using videos, presentations, articles and discussions, participants will hear from a wide range of world-leading experts from around the world, and across disciplines including epidemiology, entomology, vector biology, social science and health systems.

The course is specifically designed for anyone with an interest in vector borne diseases and public health. We particularly encourage those working in global and public health to enroll; including government stakeholders, health workers, those working on vector control programmes, vector researchers and industry employees.

 

“We are thrilled to launch this exciting new course on controlling vector borne diseases in partnership with IVCC and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt national vector control programs, it is critically important that education and training in coordinating effective vector control practices happens at a community level and this free course will help to achieve this.”

Professor James Logan, LSHTM, lead educator for this course.

 

 “IVCC is delighted to have supported the development of this MOOC.  Vector control has proven to be a critical intervention in the fight against malaria.  This MOOC will help anyone with an interest in vector control learn not just the history of vector control but also the advances being made by organisations like IVCC to bring to market novel vector control interventions to address the growing threat of insecticide resistance.”

Nick Hamon, CEO, IVCC

 

“LSTM is delighted to have partnered with IVCC and LSHTM to put together this course. Online learning has proved itself to be extremely important during the current situation, especially for those that are unable to attend courses in person, so the MOOC opens the doors and gives access to those who wouldn’t normally have it. Vector control has been critical to the reduction of malaria cases in recent decades and increasing the capacity of vector control now, particularly given the backdrop of programmes being interrupted by COVID and the issue of insecticide resistance, has never been more vital.”

Dr Michael Coleman, LSTM

The MOOC, which will officially launch on Monday 21^st September, is open for free enrollment on the FutureLearn site via this link.