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SECTION 5:
Conclusions and Recommendations The shockwave unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic opens a window of opportunity for the potential reform of the pharmaceutical R&D system. Proposals and initiatives such as global data, knowledge and technology pools (e.g., C-TAP) and global pooling of demand (e.g., ACT-Accelerator) were unthinkable just one year ago, as was the extraordinary global effort made by the public sector to advance the development and coordinate global purchasing mechanisms for therapies, vaccines and diagnostic tests, creating strong pipelines in a matter of months. Recognition of the role of the public sector as a market-creator and market-shaper, not only in terms of funding and de-risking early investments in R&D but also in terms of carrying out R&D up to clinical stages and developing demand-pooling mechanisms, has changed the traditional belief that the public sector cannot bring value to the economy and that market interventions crowd out private entrepreneurs. 6,9 The development of a preferred supplier model (and of other models that use the purchasing power of public institutions to shape the conditions of production, supply and access to pharmaceutical innovations) is consistent with the debates around the public sector’s capacity to shape markets through its procurement mechanisms in order to improve health, social and environmental outcomes. In addition, it is fully aligned with the sustainable agenda touching, as it does, on issues related to several of the Sustainable Development Goals. The design and implementation of a preferred supplier model should start by ensuring that all stakeholders involved are heard, including patient and civil society organisations, public-sector professionals and, of course, investment banks and pharmaceutical companies. The input of all these stakeholders is essential to an understanding of the possibilities of a new market model for health innovations. Patient organisations, civil society organisations and researchers should have a preferential seat at the table when decisions are being made concerning the direction the system should take. Their input is essential in the definition of the areas the R&D system should focus on and in ensuring accountability and transparency in both public and private institutions. Since the goal of a preferred supplier model is to create a sustainable model that can ensure the development of new pharmaceutical innovations based on public health needs and appropriate global access to the end products, it is vital to ensure that all the stakeholders understand the risks and benefits of participating in the model. While investments by public institutions in pharmaceutical R&D often play a key role in the development of new medicines, vaccines and diagnostics, these contributions are not conditioned by any sort of mechanism designed to ensure that society benefit from the value created with public money. It is, therefore, essential to implement
COVID-19 and the Reform of the Biomedical R&D System: A Proposal for a Preferred Supplier Model. An ISGlobal discussion paper.
