Mobilizing public sector investments in vaccine R&D to address emerging viral threats

The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that, first, global pandemics are significant threats to population health and material standard of living and, second, evidently not enough is being done to prevent pandemics. Future pandemics are likely if the system of pandemic preparedness is not improved. The first step to ensure we are ready for the next viral outbreak is to understand how the current system functions: who is funding this system and who is conducting the basic and applied R&D into diagnostics and vaccines? Which viruses are being targeted? How much has been spent on these activities and how are suppliers being incentivized and monitored? What is the apparent effectiveness of the existing system? What are its weaknesses? To date, there has been no systematic assessment of this pandemic preparedness ecosystem. The proposed mixed methods research intends to address this gap. The results will be help policy makers invest funds where they can make the biggest difference and also help Sanofi Pasteur understand the role that they can play to improve the system.

Faculty Supervisor:

Paul Grootendorst

Student:

Javad Moradpour Taleshi

Partner:

Sanofi Pasteur

Discipline:

Pharmacy / Pharmacology

Sector:

University:

University of Toronto

Program: