NAM proposes global pandemic R&D effort

The U.S. National Academy of Medicine released a World Health Organization establish an independent Pandemic Product Development Committee (PPDC) in 2016 that would accelerate R&D to combat pandemic threats. The report recommends a $1 billion annual budget for the committee "to maintain a portfolio of projects in drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, personal protective equipment, and medical devices."

The report suggests that funding sources could include national governments, foundations, and the private sector. Other sources could include R&D budgets devoted to national security, as well as public, philanthropic and university R&D budgets in the health arena. It also cites the potential for "catalyzing private-sector R&D" and "generating new sources of private finance from outside the health care sector, such as the life insurance, travel, and tourism and meat and poultry trade sectors." ...