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News & Insights

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Check out the latest news and announcements from GHTC.

Paul Kagame
April 20, 2022

GHTC joins letter calling on G20 leaders to urgently sustain and accelerate the global COVID-19 response

Ahead of the G7 and G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meetings on April 20, GHTC joined civil society organizations from around the world to call on G20 leaders and finance ministers to urgently ensure the global response to COVID-19 is sustained and accelerated.

Read time: 3 minutes / PDF link
PATH/Carlo Lechea
April 15, 2022

More than 100 organizations urge Congress to establish global health innovation fund at USAID

A coalition of more than 100 leading global health and research organizations urged Congress to provide $250 million in new funding to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish a fund to supercharge global health innovation.

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A coalition of more than 100 leading global health and research organizations is calling on Congress to provide $250 million in new funding to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish a fund to supercharge global health innovation.In an open letter to congressional appropriators, these organizations urged policymakers to appropriate this dedicated innovation funding to USAID in the fiscal year 2023 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs spending bill. This new influx of resources, which advocates are calling the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies Fund, or SIGHT Fund, would enable USAID to expand its support of research and development (R&D) of products for a range of global health challenges.The letter highlights how USAID has for decades excelled in facilitating R&D of new vaccines, drugs, and other tools as part of its broader global health mission. But it also notes how stagnant budgets and growing needs have squeezed the agency, resulting in a worrisome trend of USAID investment in R&D declining as a proportion of overall global health spending. The signatories make the case that this new dedicated source of R&D funding would reverse this decline and better enable the agency to make bold, forward-looking innovation investments to stock the global health toolbox of tomorrow.The request for an initial appropriation of $250 million for the SIGHT Fund is an amount representing less than 3 percent of current US spending on global health, yet this modest investment could catalyze the development of game-changing tools that could accelerate progress against both emerging and enduring global health challenges—saving US taxpayer dollars, maximizing the impact of programs, and ultimately improving and saving lives around the world. The full text of the open letter can be viewed here and the full list of signatories is below:1,000 Days3rd Stone DesignAdvancing SynergyAmerican Academy of PediatricsAmerican Society of Tropical Medicine and HygieneAVACBay Area Global Health AllianceBEMPU HealthBetter World CampaignBilimetrix s.r.l.BIO Ventures for Global HealthBoston University Social Innovation on Drug Resistance ProgramBridges to DevelopmentBugworksBurnet InstituteCatalysts for ChangeCenter for Global Health InnovationCenter for Innovation in Global Health, Georgetown UniversityChristian Connections for International HealthCoalition for Epidemic Preparedness InnovationsCoalition for Health Research and DevelopmentCONRADConsortium of Universities for Global HealthCORE GroupDeutsche Stiftung WeltbevoelkerungDr Marri Channa Reddy FoundationDrugs for Neglected Diseases initiativeElizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS FoundationEmory UniversityEpiPointeEqualize HealthFINDFREO2 FoundationFriends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and MalariaGlobal Antibiotic Research and Development PartnershipGlobal Health CouncilGlobal Health Innovative Technology FundGlobal Health StrategiesGlobal Health Technologies CoalitionGlobal ImpactHarvestPlusHemex HealthIAVIInfectious Diseases Society of AmericaInnovative Vector Control ConsortiumInternational Business & Technical Consultants, Inc.International Partnership for MicrobicidesInternational Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung DiseaseInternational Vaccine InstituteJohns Hopkins Center for Health SecurityKNCV Tuberculosis FoundationLinux Foundation Public HealthLittle Sparrow Technologies, Inc.Lucky Iron FishMakerere University School of Public HealthManagement Sciences for HealthMbarara University of Science and TechnologyMedical IMPACTMedicines for Malaria VentureModula S Inc.MRIGlobalMustERONE CampaignPAIPanAfricarePandemic Action NetworkPanorama GlobalPartners In HealthPATHPathfinder InternationalPolicy Cures ResearchPopulation CouncilPopulation Services International Research!AmericaRESULTSRice University Institute for Global Health TechnologiesSabin Vaccine InstituteSanaria Inc.Seed Global HealthShot@LifeSightsaversSinapi BiomedicalSmile TrainSociety for Children Orphaned By AIDS Inc.South Africa Health Technologies Advocacy CoalitionSpeak Up AfricaTB AllianceTexas Children's HospitalThe BroadReach GroupThe END FundThe Task Force for Global HealthTreatment Action GroupUCSF Institute for Global Health SciencesUnited to Beat MalariaUnlock AidVanderbilt Institute for Global HealthWashington Global Health AllianceWCG CaresWhat To Expect ProjectWhite Ribbon AllianceWomen in Global HealthZenysis
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Latest from the Breakthroughs Blog

Read stories about bright ideas and bold innovations in global health.

PATH/Gabe Bienczycki
July 19, 2021

Research Roundup: Adapted TB treatment regimen reduces side effects, new partnership to help eliminate malaria, COVAX launches marketplace to boost production

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week.

Written by Anna Kovacevich / GHTC
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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. An adapted version of an existing treatment regimen to combat highly drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) maintains efficacy against the disease and reduces side effects, according to results from the ZeNix trial announced last week. The ZeNix study, led by TB Alliance, is a follow-up to the Nix-TB trial, which published results last year showing 89 percent of participants were cured of TB when treated for six months with a combination of bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid—known as the BPaL regimen. ZeNix evaluated the same regimen among 181 people with cases of highly drug-resistant TB in South Africa, Russia, Georgia, and Moldova, but varied the doses and durations of the use of linezolid. Results showed significantly reducing doses and duration of linezolid can have the same levels of efficacy in addition to reducing the side effects significantly.A new partnership will aim to help endemic countries eliminate Plasmodium vivax malaria, a complex and persistent type of malaria that poses a risk to more than one-third of the world’s population. The Partnership For Vivax Elimination (PAVE), led by the Medicines for Malaria Venture and PATH, will conduct feasibility studies to evaluate the best treatment options for P. vivax relapse in diverse populations and settings. The partnership will scale up the single-dose treatment tafenoquine as well as a higher dose of a second drug, primaquine, that cuts treatment time to seven days compared to the 14-day regimen currently in use. PAVE will also generate and consolidate evidence to support malaria-endemic countries in developing and implementing new strategies for P. vivax malaria.The COVAX vaccine-sharing facility is launching a marketplace to address supply chain bottlenecks and accelerate the global production of COVID-19 vaccine doses. The platform will match vaccine manufacturers with suppliers of key inputs to boost production of vaccines for equitable distribution through COVAX. The marketplace will initially focus on six critical areas where there have been shortages, including bioreactor bags, lipids, and vials, but could eventually facilitate supplies for other lifesaving medicines and vaccines hit by global shortages, according to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which will facilitate the initiative. COVAX aims to make 2 billion vaccine doses available by the end of the year, but so far has only delivered 118 million vaccines to 135 countries.
International Monetary Fund/Lisa Marie David
July 12, 2021

Research Roundup: WHO issues recommendation for drugs to treat severe COVID-19, chikungunya vaccine candidate receives FDA breakthrough designation, and Pfizer plans to seek authorization for booster doses

Written by Anna Kovacevich / GHTC
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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of interleukin-6 receptor blockers as a treatment for severe and critical COVID-19, making these only the second set of drugs it has deemed effective in treating the disease. The interleukin-6 blocking drugs, tocilizumab and sarilumab, showed efficacy in reducing deaths in data from more than 10,000 patients involved in 27 clinical trials. Tocilizumab, made by Roche under the brand name Actemra, and sarilumab, made by Regeneron and Sanofi under the brand name Kevzara, are monoclonal antibodies used to suppress overreactions of the immune system in patients with severe COVID-19. In its recommendation, WHO also emphasized a need for equitable access to the treatments, calling on manufacturers to reduce the drugs’ prices and make supplies available to low- and middle-income countries, especially where COVID-19 is surging. A chikungunya vaccine candidate developed by Valneva has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The single-dose, live-attenuated vaccine, VLA1553, also received FDA Fast Track designation in December 2018 and European Medicines Agency PRIME designation in October 2020. Valneva’s phase 3 trial to evaluate immunogenicity and safety of VLA1553 at 28 days following immunization completed recruitment in April, and top-line data is expected in the summer. The Breakthrough Therapy Designation is meant to facilitate and expedite development and review of new drugs for serious or life-threatening conditions where preliminary clinical data demonstrates the drug may have substantial improvement for at least one endpoint over available therapies.Pfizer intends to seek FDA authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine in August, the company said Thursday, claiming another shot within 12 months could boost immunity and help combat virus variants. Early data from Pfizer’s booster study showed participants’ antibody levels jumped five- to ten-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier. Research has also shown the current vaccine regimen offers strong protection against the delta variant, which is now spreading rapidly around the world and accounts for the majority of new US infections. On the same day as Pfizer’s announcement, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FDA issued a joint statement saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need a booster shot yet, and any decision on boosters would happen only when “the science demonstrates that they are needed.”
Governor Tom Wolf
July 6, 2021

Research Roundup: Researchers identify drugs for COVID-19 repurposing, malaria vaccine shows promise in early trials, and CoronaVac vaccine appears safe for those 3 and over

Written by Anna Kovacevich / GHTC
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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.University of Cambridge scientists have identified 200 existing drugs as possible candidates to repurpose against COVID-19 and validated two of them in early tests—the antimalarial therapy proguanil and rheumatoid arthritis medication sulfasalazine. In the study, both drugs safely inhibited the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in monkey and human cell lines. Both are well established and well tolerated for other human diseases and will likely be rapidly advanced into clinical trials to test whether they can prevent or treat COVID-19. The Cambridge research, which mapped a network of human proteins induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection, identified 476 key proteins most relevant in viral replication and screened approved drugs against those proteins, finding 200 drugs, 40 of which are already in COVID-19 clinical trials and another 30 of which have previously been proposed as potential candidates against the disease.A malaria vaccine candidate that pairs a shot of the live parasite that causes the disease with a dose of infection-fighting drugs showed promise in early clinical trials, researchers reported in Nature last week. The live parasite vaccine and drug combination showed 87.5 percent efficacy in a small group of healthy adult participants. The study, conducted at the National Institutes of Health, gave 44 healthy people in the United States three intravenous doses of the vaccine spaced about a month apart, followed by one of two antimalarial drugs—pyrimethamine or chloroquine—two or three days after the shot to weaken and eliminate the parasite. A phase 2 clinical trial of the vaccine is now underway in Mali, a malaria-endemic country.The CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe and induce an antibody response among children and adolescents ages 3 to 17, according to phase 1/2 clinical trial data. The vaccine, manufactured by Sinovac, has recently been approved for emergency use in China for children over the age of 3. The trial results evaluated the vaccine among healthy children and adolescents in Zanhuang County, China, finding 96 percent of participants who received two doses of the vaccine developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Most adverse reactions were mild or moderate, with pain at the injection site the most commonly reported symptom. Researchers noted that the number of participants was small and concentrated and recognized a need for larger studies in other regions, as well as for data evaluating long-term safety and immune responses.
US National Guard/A.J. Coyne
June 28, 2021

Research Roundup: Tech hub to boost African vaccine access, UK launches trial on ivermectin, and FDA authorizes saliva-based antibody test

Written by Anna Kovacevich / GHTC
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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.The first technology transfer hub for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines will be established in South Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced last week. The hub will assist in scaling production of and access to doses across the African continent by providing training on mRNA technologies for manufacturers from low- and middle-income countries and licensing them for local production. The hub is still in the process of securing agreements with manufacturers of mRNA vaccines, the technology of which is potentially easier to scale than alternatives and could be faster and easier to adapt for COVID-19 variants of concern. If knowledge of the way to produce an existing mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is transferred to the new hub in South Africa, doses could be produced at the site in the next 9 to 12 months, according to WHO.Scientists at the University of Oxford will evaluate Ivermectin in a new clinical trial to prevent hospitalization among people with COVID-19 symptoms. Ivermectin, most commonly used to treat parasitic infections, has been promoted for use against COVID-19 in several regions despite a current lack of clinical data to support its use. There have been early, “promising” results from small and observational studies, but it would be “premature” to recommend Ivermectin for COVID-19, according to a researcher from the upcoming trial. The Oxford team said they selected Ivermectin to be included in the trial because it was readily available globally and known to be relatively safe.The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to a COVID-19 antibody test that uses mouth swabs, rather than blood samples, to detect the presence of IgA, IgG, and IgM antibodies. The rapid, saliva-based test, called CovAb, delivers a result within 15 minutes and does not require any additional hardware or instruments. The authorization allows the diagnostic to be used at the point of care among adults and children. In clinical trials, CovAb demonstrated a false-negative rate of less than 3 percent and a false-positive rate of nearly 1 percent when administered at least 15 days after the onset of symptoms, when the body’s antibody response reaches higher levels.
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Learn more about upcoming events hosted by or featuring GHTC and its members.

February
13
2023

Ready, Set, CROI 2023 - Prepare for the 30th Year of CROI

CROI Community Liaisons, CROI program cochairs, the International Antiviral Society-USA, AVAC, and The Choice Agenda.

Virtual Location: Virtual
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Feb 14, 2023

"Mind the Gap: Tackling Gender Inequality In and Through Science and Innovation"

DSW

Virtual Location: Virtual
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Feb 22, 2023

"Connected diagnostics: Do the benefits outweigh the costs?"

PATH

Virtual Location: Virtual
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Mar 14-16, 2023

Fourteenth International Rotavirus Symposium

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH, the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center, and ROTA Council

Location: Bali, Indonesia
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