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Partnership offers hope for COVID drug development
By Max Bronstein and David Beier
This article ran in BioCentury on March 7, 2020
As the world eyes a return to post-COVID crisis ‘normalcy,’ a robust global recovery will depend on effective treatments and ultimately a vaccine. Yes, more than 400 research and clinical programs are already under way, but coordinating these efforts is a major challenge.
That’s why when NIH announced the formation of a public-private partnership among biopharmaceutical companies, the CDC, and global regulatory authorities, the news offered real hope for COVID drug development (see “Collaborating to Clobber COVID-19”).
Nothing as important as this has occurred since World War II when the U.S. created the Arsenal of Democracy by government partnering with industry to convert auto manufacturing into aircraft and tank production.
Every well-intentioned partnership or collaboration rises or falls on whether the interests of the parties are aligned. We propose concrete public policy reforms that rebalance risks and rewards with the singular goal of rapid discovery and development of new medicines and tools to respond to one the most significant global health crises in 100 years.
