A proposed novel approach to TB drug financing (Devex)

From the article: 

"Global health experts will be discussing a novel approach to bring better tuberculosis drugs to the market on Sunday, the eve of the 72nd World Health Assembly.

The goal is to develop a universal TB drug regimen that can treat both drug-susceptible and drug-resistant strains and will be administered for only two months or less. Donors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have provided funding for research and development to help achieve this, but it requires more investments, according to a draft proposal by the Center for Global Development and the Office of Health Economics in the U.K.

The proposal, called “Market-Driven, Value-Based Advance Commitment,” or MVAC, builds on a decade-old model that Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and a number of donors tried to implement to bring pneumococcal vaccines in the low- and middle-income market. The model was meant to unlock private sector investment in the research and development of health products that the industry sees as risky or where there’s not much revenue. A donor-financed fund was created to guarantee payments to pharmaceutical companies once the product entered the market. The price was negotiated in advance to keep the price low while still allowing industry to gain a return on investment."

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