MONGO Bingo

Some of you may be familiar with the expression, “my own non-governmental organization” or MONGO, an appellation coined to describe a donation-supported charity started by a well-intentioned individual seeking to save the world from his/her chosen affliction (see NY Times 2010 article).  While doing good is laudable, I have questioned the effectiveness of MONGOs in [...]

No Kiddin’

Last week I was pleased to attend the 5th anniversary reception for the Cambridge MA-based Institute for Pediatric Innovation (IPI), a not-for-profit founded by one of my technology transfer mentors, Don Lombardi.  After a career in business and technology transfer at Children’s Hospital Boston, Don started IPI to address the lack of new technology and [...]

A Better Type of Prize

I’ve written posts previously about the idea of big-money prizes to stimulate interest and competition in creating new technology and products to address global (neglected) diseases and hold the opinion that they won’t work (my post of 12/9/10) and that investment-type funding is better (post of 7/21/11). At the other end of the prize spectrum [...]

USAID Rhetoric or Reality

I was not able to attend the Partnering for Global Health Forum on June 27, the third in a series organized by Bio Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) and held in conjunction with the big biotech-fest, BIO 2011, in Washington, DC.  The Forum has a laudable aim (“creating new market-based solutions that speed the development [...]

Backyard Biotech

Last week, National Pubic Radio ran a short story on its Morning Edition program that was produced by my local station, WBUR, called “One Man Does It Faster, Cheaper Than Big Pharma,” (NPR story) and it sparked my interest as an advocate for faster, cheaper drug development for global disease (e.g., my post, “Drug Discovery [...]

Over to the Dark Side

Back now from my trip out to the wild, wooly, and wet west, I noted a story by Luke Timmerman, ace biotech reporter for Xconomy Seattle, that Tachi Yamada, former president of the global health program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, had joined the venture capital firm of Frazier Healthcare Ventures as a [...]

Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise Reprise

Back on 9/23/10, I commented on the recommendations of two researchers to aid the growing biotech and pharma industry sector of the developing world and made a few of my own recommendations.  Recently I noted that the government of India is supporting “pre-venture activity” (Forbes article), a good idea that was not mentioned, and want [...]

Micro Need Macro Problem

An aspect of global health I’m learning more about is the relationship between health and nutrition, an aspect that we, in the land of the large, all-you-can-eat buffets, and a multi-billion “dieting” industry, easily ignore, but obviously, for many of the world’s citizens, especially those whose developing minds and bodies need nutrition, is a major [...]

BMGF Ventures LLP

One of the better aspects of capitalism is its ability to create wealth and one it worst aspects is concentrating that wealth in a minority elite.  But with a little nudging from the US government in the form of favorable tax treatment for the wealthy and their philanthropic foundations that wealth can be put to [...]