Interview Marcel Tanner
Discussions around vaccines have been given a great push during the Covid-19 pandemic, and analyses reveal that the investment in R&D facilities is very high. There has been a lot of attention on patents, but we have to realise that if you open/break a patent, it will only be of use if you have the capacity to produce such a vaccine. It takes years to develop that capacity. New approaches such as the BioNTech’s container labs that can be put together quickly for an R&D process in African countries, make a lot of sense but are not the only answer. In the long term, as stated before, it is essential to develop the PDP-framework at national and regional levels. In addition, I think EDCTP can play a role in that next step, and focus not only on clinical trials, but already do a lot of preparatory work in vaccine acceptance through the regional Networks of Excellence and our sound connections to the scientific community.
In your view, how has the Covid-19 pandemic informed the way organisations such as EDCTP collaborate with industry partners - what can be done differently?
We already have so many things in place that we can put together to produce even more results. And I really think we must go beyond a vision and focus on the results. We are aggressively working with countries, industry partners and others, to create consortia that have this focus. It’s no longer the private or public sector’s sole responsibility to discover. In innovation, you have to think from the beginning where you want to go and where you want to end up. Industry is an essential partner in these early discussions in product development.
Focusing on results also ensures that you have something to offer for countries. Political situations change continually, but science evolves gradually. Private industry – again carried by the PDP-framework - can help to create the research nucleus needed to support sustainable local or regional R&D regardless of the political agenda.
How do you think we can build on the industry-supported activities that have been conducted to date and what new opportunities do you anticipate will emerge that can be jointly initiated under Global Health EDCTP3?
I think it was a wise decision to not stop at phase III trials, but to add post registration studies to the scope of the EDCTP programme, including product-focused implementation research and pharmacovigilance. Supporting all these different phases and aspects of introducing a medical intervention have helped to create centres of excellence throughout the continent. It has helped shape long-term strategies to address the needs of vulnerable populations. Now, EDCTP has a very good backbone. However, it doesn’t help if we have research centres who can conduct the clinical trials and proceed to registration, but there’s no capacity to produce these medical products. We need to work closer with the private sector to enhance production capacity in Africa. For instance, DNDi makes country analyses of local manufacturing capabilities for drugs. These are activities that we should not duplicate. When public and industry partners form strategic alliances, we really have something to offer to countries. We can then not just say ‘We can conduct a clinical trial’, or ‘We can manufacture this or that substance’, but we can address public health needs in a sustainable way.
How would you describe EDCTP’s strategy on industry involvement in global health product development? In what way has EDCTP worked to facilitate collaboration with industry?
I think we’ve made great strides in the past decades. In the nineties, we were in great despair. The advent of product development partnerships (PDP’s) have greatly improved this situation by bringing academics, pharmaceutical sector and other stakeholders together. They realised it is not one single partner who is responsible for developing and delivering a medical intervention. If you and I were to cross the Sahara desert tomorrow, we would not discuss what our individual visions and shares would be, but we would consider what we can jointly bring to the table to tackle that challenge together. This may sound simplistic, but it is actually a very practical approach which can bring results closer faster.
Having had certain successes with PDPs, the next step is to carry this from where it was established. There is a clear need for local capacity building so that you get a critical mass to take medical interventions further. Pharmaceutical production, for example, should not be shifted to just one (other) continent. We now have some experience with the pharmaceutical sector in Africa, and can move from single-product manufacturing to a portfolio approach. Medicine is a system and an ecosystem, and medical interventions do not function in isolation. Therefore, well-equipped systems carried by the PDP-framework and using a portfolio approach are needed in all global regions so that they can tailor to these needs and serve the diverse markets.
The substantial R&D investments needed to bring a new health product to market and the need to provide low priced affordable care in LMICs are often financially unattractive for pharmaceutical companies, yet they play a critical role in product development. As private sector interests in Africa increase, and greater efforts are being made to boost the continent's local manufacturing capacity, what do you think the main roles & responsibilities of industry partners should be?
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Interview Marcel Tanner
I think we’ve made great strides in the past decades. In the nineties, we were in great despair. The advent of product development partnerships (PDP’s) have greatly improved this situation by bringing academics, pharmaceutical sector and other stakeholders together. They realised it is not one single partner who is responsible for developing and delivering a medical intervention. If you and I were to cross the Sahara desert tomorrow, we would not discuss what our individual visions and shares would be, but we would consider what we can jointly bring to the table to tackle that challenge together. This may sound simplistic, but it is actually a very practical approach which can bring results closer faster.
Having had certain successes with PDPs, the next step is to carry this from where it was established. There is a clear need for local capacity building so that you get a critical mass to take medical interventions further. Pharmaceutical production, for example, should not be shifted to just one (other) continent. We now have some experience with the pharmaceutical sector in Africa, and can move from single-product manufacturing to a portfolio approach. Medicine is a system and an ecosystem, and medical interventions do not function in isolation. Therefore, well-equipped systems carried by the PDP-framework and using a portfolio approach are needed in all global regions so that they can tailor to these needs and serve the diverse markets.
The substantial R&D investments needed to bring a new health product to market and the need to provide low priced affordable care in LMICs are often financially unattractive for pharmaceutical companies, yet they play a critical role in product development. As private sector interests in Africa increase, and greater efforts are being made to boost the continent's local manufacturing capacity, what do you think the main roles & responsibilities of industry partners should be?
Discussions around vaccines have been given a great push during the Covid-19 pandemic, and analyses reveal that the investment in R&D facilities is very high. There has been a lot of attention on patents, but we have to realise that if you open/break a patent, it will only be of use if you have the capacity to produce such a vaccine. It takes years to develop that capacity. New approaches such as the BioNTech’s container labs that can be put together quickly for an R&D process in African countries, make a lot of sense but are not the only answer. In the long term, as stated before, it is essential to develop the PDP-framework at national and regional levels. In addition, I think EDCTP can play a role in that next step, and focus not only on clinical trials, but already do a lot of preparatory work in vaccine acceptance through the regional Networks of Excellence and our sound connections to the scientific community.
In your view, how has the Covid-19 pandemic informed the way organisations such as EDCTP collaborate with industry partners - what can be done differently?
We already have so many things in place that we can put together to produce even more results. And I really think we must go beyond a vision and focus on the results. We are aggressively working with countries, industry partners and others, to create consortia that have this focus. It’s no longer the private or public sector’s sole responsibility to discover. In innovation, you have to think from the beginning where you want to go and where you want to end up. Industry is an essential partner in these early discussions in product development.
Focusing on results also ensures that you have something to offer for countries. Political situations change continually, but science evolves gradually. Private industry – again carried by the PDP-framework - can help to create the research nucleus needed to support sustainable local or regional R&D regardless of the political agenda.
How do you think we can build on the industry-supported activities that have been conducted to date and what new opportunities do you anticipate will emerge that can be jointly initiated under Global Health EDCTP3?
I think it was a wise decision to not stop at phase III trials, but to add post registration studies to the scope of the EDCTP programme, including product-focused implementation research and pharmacovigilance. Supporting all these different phases and aspects of introducing a medical intervention have helped to create centres of excellence throughout the continent. It has helped shape long-term strategies to address the needs of vulnerable populations. Now, EDCTP has a very good backbone. However, it doesn’t help if we have research centres who can conduct the clinical trials and proceed to registration, but there’s no capacity to produce these medical products. We need to work closer with the private sector to enhance production capacity in Africa. For instance, DNDi makes country analyses of local manufacturing capabilities for drugs. These are activities that we should not duplicate. When public and industry partners form strategic alliances, we really have something to offer to countries. We can then not just say ‘We can conduct a clinical trial’, or ‘We can manufacture this or that substance’, but we can address public health needs in a sustainable way.
How would you describe EDCTP’s strategy on industry involvement in global health product development? In what way has EDCTP worked to facilitate collaboration with industry?