Burnet Institute welcomed Professor Suerie Moon, an international leader in equitable access to research and development, to the institute to discuss alternative innovation models for medicines.
Professor Moon is the Co-Director of the Global Health Centre and Professor of Practice in Interdisciplinary Programmes and International Relations/Political Science at the Geneva Graduate Institute.
She presented preliminary research findings on how innovative models in pharmaceutical research and development could be beneficial for neglected diseases, rare diseases, pandemic preparedness, and antibiotics.
She said the mainstream innovation model has been critiqued for its slow pace, harms, and restricted access.
“Alternative innovation models are other ways to develop and deliver health technologies that might address some, if not all, of these shortcomings,” she said.
“But there is a limited understanding of alternative innovation models. There was not much we could find that would help us look at diseases across niches and initiatives to look at this phenomenon more broadly.
“That's what we were trying to address with our project.”
Professor Moon is one of the world’s foremost academic thinkers and institution leaders in equitable access to research and development.
She has developed specialised policy expertise to achieve globally equitable innovation and access to medicines; strengthen global governance of outbreak preparedness and response; make trade, investment and intellectual property rules more health-sensitive; and address weaknesses in development assistance for health.
Hosted by Burnet, in partnership with the Australian Global Health Alliance, the event brought together partners, colleagues and industry leaders.
Burnet Director and CEO Professor Crabb said it was great to be able to bring everyone together to discuss global health equity.
“We are a community of practice, trying to tackle issues that are bigger than any of us can make sense of individually,” he said.
“It is a privilege to have Professor Moon speak to us about health equity, which is a topic that is incredibly important to all of us.”