Breakthroughs Blog: Guest post

David Kappos is the Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). On Wednesday, USPTO announced the Patents for Humanity pilot program, which rewards patent owners for using their patented technology to address humanitarian needs, including global health and medical technologies. The program was announced at a White House event on innovation for international development. This post originally appeared on the USPTO blog. Sweeping revolutions in technology continue to fundamentally redefine the way we connect with one another and interact with the world. Today, an entrepreneur can do business with a remote village across an ocean just as quickly as a student in Boston can video-conference with a professor in Beijing. Political rallies can be organized by the click of a button, while gripping images of that rally can be shared across continents with a single tweet. And while an ever-shrinking and increasingly interconnected world allows technologies and information to spread in unprecedented ways, it also reminds us of the unique challenges we face as a planet. That’s why the United States Patent and Trademark Office, during a global development event today at the White House, announced the Patents for Humanity pilot program. Because while 21st century challenges are global in scope, so too are their solutions. By building smarter irrigation systems in towns plagued by drought, by delivering cost-effective medicinal vaccines to communities without hospitals, and by engineering weather-resistant crop strains to farms ravaged by natural disasters, patented inventions have the power to create lasting solutions for some of the most serious issues confronting the world’s poorest and underserved regions. By offering strong incentives for businesses of all sizes to engage in these humanitarian efforts, Patents for Humanity encourages up to 1,000 applicants to demonstrate how their patented, or patent-pending technologies, are advancing research and results in four categories: Medical Technology, Food and Nutrition, Clean Technology, and Information Technology. USPTO is launching Patents for Humanity, a program to advance research and results that will address global challenges Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/PATH Judges selected from academia for their expertise in these fields will review applications and recommend winners, and up to 50 awardees will receive certificates for accelerated patent processing at the USPTO—a powerful tool for helping businesses validate their technology and resolve investment decisions more quickly. Not only will the faster processing help technologists move solutions to the marketplace faster; it will also demonstrate that humanitarian endeavors and smart economic growth can work hand in hand. By harnessing the power of science and technology with research and development, Patents for Humanity plays a key role in advancing President Obama’s global development agenda. By collaborating with parts of the world in ways unimaginable just a few years ago, and by unleashing broader prosperity in emerging economies, this important new USPTO initiative demonstrates that the power to innovate is the power to lead, by design and by solution.

Research!America, a member of the GHTC, recently conducted analyses in target states to measure the health and economic impact of global health research and development (R&D), highlighting its benefits for states across the nation and strengthening the evidence base for Congress’ support of federal investments in global health R&D. Danielle Doughman, program manager for global health R&D advocacy, shares the organization’s findings in Maryland. This is the third post in a series. If it’s true that health is wealth, Maryland has both in abundance. Maryland is home to two federal health powerhouses, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest medical research institute. Together, they employ 25,000 people. Silver Spring’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is engaged in global health research to protect our military personnel from infectious threats they may encounter in the field. And Marylanders see the direct benefits of that research: 82 percent recognize that American civilians benefit from the health research conducted by the military, according to a poll commissioned by Research!America. Maryland is home to two federal health powerhouses, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest medical research institute. Photo credit:PATH What’s more, Maryland’s life sciences sector supported 71,600 jobs in 2010. Workers in the life sciences industry earned, on average, more than $91,000 annually—76 percent more than the state average. Of the nearly $52.7 million in extramural funding that flowed to Maryland from NIH in fiscal year 2012, over 70 percent, or $37.8 million, was awarded through contracts and grants to Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins is among Maryland’s largest employers, with 47,000 employees across the university and affiliated health system, and it contributes more than $10 billion per year to the state’s economy. Nonprofit global health “product development partnerships” use a unique business model to work across sectors to accelerate the creation of low-cost drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics to advance health for the most vulnerable populations. Two such nonprofits are headquartered in Maryland. Rockville’s Aeras, another GHTC member, engages in the development of new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines and other prevention technologies, capitalizing on the expertise of its partners to accelerate the development of the six vaccines in its R&D pipeline. Aeras’ 135 Maryland-based employees understand that the sooner effective products are available, the closer we are to dramatically reducing the 1.4 million lives lost to TB every year. Just last week, Aeras announced its partnership with NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a Phase II clinical trial of a TB vaccine. With the first cases of totally drug-resistant TB coming to international attention earlier this year, aggressive pursuit of vastly improved TB drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics has never been more crucial than it is now. With support from the US Agency for International Development and NIH, Maryland’s International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) is helping to lead the charge to design products to protect women from HIV and AIDS, the leading cause of death for women ages 15-44 worldwide. In addition to the support of the US government, IPM works with partners around the world to develop antiretroviral-based microbicides to safely and effectively protect women against HIV. Later this year, IPM and the NIH-funded Microbicide Trials Network will move a promising product into late-stage clinical trials. The robust federal investment and presence in Maryland reflects the fact that more than three-quarters of Marylanders say Americans should be concerned about global diseases like malaria, cholera, and other infectious diseases that mostly affect poorer countries. More than ever before, America’s health—in both economic and medical terms—is global health.

Research!America, a member of the GHTC, recently conducted analyses across a select group of target states to measure the health and economic impact of global health research and development (R&D), highlighting its benefits for states across the nation and strengthening the evidence base for Congress’ support of federal investments in global health R&D. Danielle Doughman, program manager for global health R&D advocacy, shares the organization’s findings in Georgia. This post is the second in a series in which Research!America will profile various states from around the country. Is Atlanta the next Seattle or Geneva? With continued federal investment, the global health community may soon be talking about Atlanta, Georgia, as one of the new global health capitals of the world. On many measures, Georgia—and its capital city in particular—is at the crossroads of global health. Bioscience is one of the state's fastest-growing industries; from 2001 to 2005, the number of Georgia bioscience firms grew by 38 percent, versus 13 percent in other industries. The state is home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which employs more than 15,000 people. The CDC, in partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD), was also the first to identify the H1N1 flu virus in its Atlanta labs, working closely with its international partners to limit the virus’ spread. Georgia’s world-class universities keep a steady stream of scientific talent flowing to the state’s public- and private-sector health industries. In 2010, Georgia received more then $433 through NIH for research, which helped create 6,700 new jobs in the state. Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/PATH. The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) brings together Georgia's research universities, business community, and state government to create opportunities to grow Georgia's economy through scientific discovery. GRA has also been instrumental in recruiting top researchers to the state, including renowned scientist Rafi Ahmed to the Emory Vaccine Center. The creation of the Vaccine Center in turned spurred the creation of new private industry. Smyrna’s GeoVax is an HIV vaccine R&D company, which in turn conducts research with contracts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). And Georgians increasingly recognize the health and economic value such research brings to the state. According to a June 2011 poll, 74 percent of Georgians think global health research is important to the state’s economy, especially in terms of jobs and incomes. And they’re right: in 2010, Georgia received more than $433 million in federal funds from the NIH for research. In turn, this helped create 6,700 new jobs in the state. Plus, research jobs typically pay well above the average annual salary. Georgians are also concerned about military health. A full 87 percent said that they are concerned about the military’s exposure to diseases overseas, and slightly more (88 percent) recognize that civilians also benefit from such health research. Funding for the CDC and the DoD allow research on infectious diseases and biosecurity to keep Georgia’s 100,000 military personnel—and their families—safe. However, while Georgia ranks ninth in population, it ranks just 15th in federal R&D funding. There is tremendous potential to grow the R&D enterprise in Georgia, and to contribute to the long-term investment that this sector brings for Georgia’s economy. Strong federal support for the US agencies working to improve our health and economy with evidence-based science is needed. Investment in global health R&D is not only the right thing to do for the world, it’s also the smart thing to do for Georgia.

Danielle Doughman is a program manager for global health research and development (R&D) advocacy at Research!America, the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance committed to making research to improve health a higher national priority. Research!America is a member of the GHTC. Yesterday in London, some of the biggest players in global health committed to a renewed and intensified focus on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a group of diseases affecting the world’s poorest people. One in six people, or 1.4 billion people around the world, has an NTD and one in three people is at risk. Though NTDs don’t always kill, they cause disabilities, making it difficult or impossible for children to attend school and for adults to work and support their families. The international, cross-sector meeting marked collaboration between governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pharmaceutical companies, and global health nongovernmental organizations. It is also a historic pledge that brings new promise and hope to those affected and advances science and health for all. Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, noted that the variety of different commitments across sectors demonstrates these collaborations want to “travel far” to end NTDs. “If you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel as a group,” he said, quoting an African proverb. Making the best use of existing tools to combat diseases will only get us part of the way. The collaboration's goals are achievable only with new tools—including drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics. Nine of the ten targeted NTDs require new investment in R&D. To take just one example, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is almost always fatal if untreated, and there are approximately 500,000 cases each year, largely in South Asia and the horn of Africa. The cost of treatment plus loss of income due to one case of VL represents at least 50% of the average spent per family member per year. What’s worse, more than half of people who seek treatment must do so more than once to cure the disease. Available therapies are sometimes toxic or ineffective. New, more effective medicines are needed, at a lower cost and with fewer side effects. A consortium project led by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, in partnership with California-based OneWorld Health and TDR, WHO’s Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, aims to establish and implement new treatment modalities as successful tools to control and support the elimination of VL in most endemic regions of South Asia. California-based pharmaceutical company Gilead is investing in further research to reduce the cost of treatment. In addition to narrowing funding gaps, new licensing or collaboration agreements have opened up “libraries” of scientific knowledge and research compounds. As a result, one pharmaceutical company recently shared 300 compounds with a lab in Argentina to conduct research on Chagas, an NTD common in rural parts of Central and South America and sometimes found in poor parts of the United States. Something as ambitious as this takes commitment from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors, but the general public must become increasingly engaged as well. The names of diseases like visceral leishmaniasis don’t exactly roll off the tongue of those of us in developed countries, and fewer people could tell you why the condition is so devastating. To increase public awareness and advocacy of NTDs, the Sabin Vaccine Institute-based Global Network’s new END7 campaign aims to end seven of the most common NTDs as a public health threat by 2020. It’s going to take an increased effort on all our parts to make NTDs a thing of the past.