As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates, global leaders are quickly realizing that we need a bigger, better toolbox to effectively fight the novel coronavirus. In some cases, we need to quickly scale up production of existing health products and technologies—personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers and others on the front-lines; ventilators for patients in critical condition, including ones that can work in low-income country (LIC) settings; effective antiviral drugs (pending better efficacy data from ongoing trials); and cleaning and sanitizing supplies for the broader population.

In other cases, we need rapid research, development, and scale-up for completely new health technologies—point of care diagnostics, testing kits/platforms to be used in the community, new or repurposed therapies, and digital technologies to support epidemiological tracking and contact tracing. And then, of course, there’s the holy grail: development and widespread administration of a safe and effective vaccine that offers population-wide protection, ultimately allowing a global return to business-as-usual.    

So how can we optimize our chances of getting these high-value health technologies as quickly as possible—and in the massive quantities we need? Many have (rightly) focused on getting urgent supply-side measures underway (i.e., financing through up-front grants, donations, or requisitions) for the most pressing supply constraints. These include investments in early-stage R&D and clinical trials; requisition of existing supplies for public health use; repurposing of existing manufacturing capacity for priority equipment (with calls to further expand this by government mandate); donations of goods from the private sector and international actors; and public-private partnerships to expand testing capacity.

Report by the Centre For Global Development