Unitaid and Japan
Unitaid, IAVI, Medicines Patent Pool and Wellcome publish novel approaches to enable equitable access to monoclonal antibodies in low- and middle-income countries
Unitaid, IAVI, the Medicines Patent Pool, and Wellcome proudly announced the publication of “Novel Approaches to Enable Equitable Access to Monoclonal Antibodies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries” in the medical journal PLOS Global Public Health. A collaborative effort across co-authors from all partner organizations, the article draws on a multistakeholder consultation to address critical barriers and proposes innovative strategies to enable equitable access to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in low- and middle-income countries.
Monoclonal antibodies – lab-engineered antibodies that mimic human antibodies in defending against disease – are revolutionizing the management of various non-communicable and autoimmune diseases in high-income countries. Some mAbs have also been approved for infectious diseases, and many others are currently in development. However, due to systemic challenges, access to mAbs in low- and middle-income countries remains very limited.
This publication describes the challenges inhibiting the accessibility of mAbs in low- and middle-income countries, which include prohibitive costs and ill-adapted formulations, insufficient investment in development for mAbs that target infectious diseases, limited production base, complex intellectual property and regulatory environments and inadequate commercial incentives in low- and middle-income country markets. It outlines possible approaches to overcome these challenges across the value chain, including development and manufacturing, licensing and technology transfer, regulatory pathways, demand creation, and approaches specific to diseases facing different market challenges, including case studies of potential trailblazer mAbs to address specific infectious diseases of public health importance for low- and middle-income countries.
The article provides key recommendations for making these powerful tools more accessible and affordable in regions where they could address unmet needs in the global health response and accelerate progress toward global targets. Unitaid and partners remains committed to working with global health agencies, funders, the private sector, and affected communities to enable equitable access to mAbs for infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries.
Read the full open-access article here: Novel approaches to enable equitable access to monoclonal antibodies in low- and middle-income countries | PLOS Global Public Health
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Unitaid to support African production of medicines and tools for postpartum hemorrhage, malaria and HIV with new call for proposals
The deadline for submissions is 17:00 Central European Time on 30 August 2024.
Equitable access to affordable, quality assured health products is an essential part of sustainable health systems. However, most of the world’s health products are produced in just a few higher-income countries, leaving many low- and middle-income countries vulnerable to price volatility, supply chain disruptions, or unavailability of essential health products. These risks are particularly acute during periods of supply scarcity when regional or global demand surges or after climate-related shocks or extreme weather events.
To ensure countries are better prepared to prevent and respond to new global health emergencies, people have continued access to the health commodities they need, and to build resilience to climate change, Unitaid is seeking proposals from partners who can support African manufacturers to achieve sustainable production of cost-competitive, quality-assured health tools, and bring them to market.
The new funding opportunity focuses on building African supplies of preventives, medicines and rapid tests used for postpartum hemorrhage, HIV and malaria, and directly supports other Unitaid initiatives to accelerate access to those key tools in countries where the need is greatest.
Through these investments in regional manufacturing, we seek to promote climate-smart health products, build resilience for future pandemic responses, increase supply security, lower costs, stimulate economic growth, empower communities and enhance quality of health tools across Africa.
This call for proposals is targeted at organizations or consortia with demonstrated expertise in upstream product development and manufacturing, and downstream activities including in-country product access. A separate call for expressions of interest targeted at manufacturers in Africa, contract research organizations and contract development and manufacturing organizations will be issued in June 2024, following this call for proposals.
For more information about the scope of this project and how to apply, please consult the call for proposals.