In line with its mission, the COVID-19 Coalition has been working with the ACT-Accelerator’s Therapeutics Partnership to increase the representation of researchers from low-resource settings in COVID-19 priority-setting bodies at the global level. Following a call for nominations by the coalition, four representatives have joined the workstreams of the ACT-Accelerator Therapeutics Partnership.
Led by Unitaid and Wellcome, the ACT-Accelerator Therapeutics Partnership aims to tackle the urgent need for effective therapeutics to limit the impact of COVID-19 through three concurrent workstreams:
- Rapid evidence assessment of candidates, coordinating the clinical trials portfolio, scientific direction and selection of candidates for development at scale (including evaluation beyond the current portfolio of Therapeutics Accelerator candidates)
- Market preparedness, facilitating market entry and supply at scale, including regulation, production capacity, pricing, designing appropriate tools and interventions adapted to the specific product
- Adequate deployment in all countries, ensuring procurement, equitable distribution, and delivery at scale and in all settings
Dr Sauman Singh is an Indian scientist who holds an engineering degree in biotechnology, and two master’s degrees: one in public health and the second in economic policy. He has a PhD in economics, which focused on the access to essential medicines in Africa by analyzing the market entry and operation strategies of Indian pharmaceutical firms. He is currently working as a Senior Project Manager for Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), India Office where he contributes to activities led by DNDi and the Infectious Disease Data Observatory (IDDO) and to the partnership between IDDO and the Indian Council of Medical Research.
In this interview, he talks about how researchers from low- and middle- income countries can contribute to research tackling COVID-19 by proposing solutions adapted to local contexts and explains the role of the workstream he has joined.