Andrew Farlow

Research Fellow in Economics, Oriel College, University of Oxford

Contact address: Oriel College, Oxford, OX1 4EW

Contact number: +44 1865 276555

MAY-JUNE ACTIVITIES:

31 May – 3 June 2010, Panama City, Panama. TDR (UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO) Disease Reference Group (DRG) on Dengue and other Emerging Viral Diseases of Public Health Importance, Stream 4: health policy research contributing to adequate public health response.

Presentations: Factors Leading to Success or Failure of National Programmes

Global Funding in Dengue

21-22 June 2010, Oriel College, Oxford. Stop TB Partnership Working Group on New Vaccines: Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles

Presentation/s: Creating a Cost-Effectiveness Evidence Base for TB Vaccines in the Context of Other Interventions

Financing for TB Vaccines in a Financially Constrained World

FORTHCOMING BOOK: Crash & Beyond: Causes and Consequences of the Global Financial Crisis’:

Oxford University Press, December 2010 (estimated)

Read about it at OUP here

PREFACE

THE ROOTS OF THE CRISIS
1: The Growth of Global Economic Imbalances
2: Housing and Mortgage Market Excesses
3: Developments in the Global Financial System
4: The Crisis Unfolds

THE RESCUE
5: Principles of Financial Rescue and Prior Lessons
6: An Assessment of Rescue Efforts, 2007-2010

THE FUTURE
7: The Immediate Economic Aftermath and the Long-Term Fiscal Consequences
8: Regulatory Reform and Long-Term Stability
9: Lessons for Monetary and Central Bank Policy

REFLECTIONS
10: Conclusion

Research Interests:

Global Health: Pharmaceutical research and development; global health financing and delivery; innovation and technology transfer issues in global

health settings; measurement of socioeconomic impact of health interventions; application of financial and risk management tools to global health

analysis; market, pricing, and launch strategies, especially in resource-poor settings. The approach is highly interdisciplinary and policy-orientated,

mixing science, economics, epidemiology, finance, and management practice

Financial Markets: Banking, equity, currency, and real estate; financial instability; monetary policy; bubbles

Global health

Global economy, real estate, banking

Other activities

Teaching

Media and public profile

Links

Oxford Conference on Innovation and Technology Transfer for Global Health

Recent papers and articles

Global Health, Vaccine Finance, and Neglected Disease Research and Development

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Various papers are in progress: ‘Key Issues in the Economics of Pandemic Flu Vaccine’, ‘Prize Funds for Drugs and Vaccines: Principles and Challenges’, ‘New Estimates of Drug Development Costs; ‘An Evaluation and Patent Pooling in Global Health’. A paper analysing the burden of disease for dengue in Cambodia and Thailand is awaiting data clearance before it can be published. A review of the evidence for chickenpox and shingles vaccines has also just been completed and will be submitted after the book manuscript is finished.

RECENT ACTIVITY:

I have been writing a book for Oxford University Press on the global financial crisis. The global health activity will resume at a higher lever shortly.

A Review of Malaria Vaccine Candidate RTS,S/AS02A, January 2010.

I recently contributed thoughts for a piece by Tatum Anderson in the British Medical Journal on Innovative Financing of Health Care.

Stop TB Partnership Working Group on New Vaccines: Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles. Meeting wrap up presentation: Gaps and Plans, Veyrier-du-Lac, October 2009. Meeting report. Meeting Executive Summary. The third meeting of the Task Force will be in Oxford in the summer of 2010 and will involve those in Oxford working on TB vaccines.

Testimony on evaluation framework, evaluation criteria and Inventory of financing proposals for the WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing

‘“Where’s all the money gone?” Financial crisis and global health spending: Priority setting past, present and future’, Vice Chancellor’s Global Health Research Forum, University of Oxford. September 2009

“Financial Meltdown and Neglected Diseases: Who will pay the price?” Talk given at launch event of first G-FINDER (Global Funding of Innovation for Neglected Diseases) report, Royal College of Physicians, London, February 2009. See the video of all speakers and panel and audience discussion here. Copy of talk here

TB Vaccine Scoping Study Part 1 (Epidemiology, cost effectiveness and socioeconomic issues; Demand, revenue, adoption, pricing and cost issues) for the Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles, of the Stop TB Working Group on New Vaccines (WHO, Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), December 2008. Meeting Report. Meeting Executive Summary

TB Vaccine Scoping Study Part 2 (Lessons for TB from a selection of other vaccines) for the Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles, of the Stop TB Working Group on New Vaccines (WHO, Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), December 2008

TB Vaccine Discussion Points for Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles, December 2008

Stop TB Working Group on New Vaccines: Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles: Discussion Point PowerPoint for first meeting, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 11-12 December 2008

Magnesium Sulfate for the Management of Eclampsia and Pre-eclampsia: Some Economic and Cost Reflections, PowerPoint presented in 2007, posted December 2008 following request

Childhood immunisation against varicella zoster virus, Editorial, British Medical Journal, August 2008 (or toll free link)

Global Health Research Agenda, prepared following Oxford Conference on Innovation and Technology Transfer for Global Health in September 2007. The conference website, Innovation and Technology Transfer for Global Health, no longer exists and therefore the files have been given a section, below, on this webpage.

The Malaria Product Pipeline: Planning for the Future. Major report by Moran M., Guzman J., Ropars A., Jorgensen M., McDonald A., Potter S., and Haile-Selassie H. The George Institute for International Health and Global Forum for Health Research. With a colleague, Simone Ghislandi (see p. 93), we provided the portfolio simulation framework used in this report for projecting the future funding needs of the global malaria vaccine and drug pipeline, working out the gaps and how to make the pipeline more optimal. September 2007. See a ScienceDaily article about the findings of this report here.

Independent assessment of the case for investment in tuberculosis vaccines. Report prepared for Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, July 2007.This report (and associated Aeras/Gates meeting in Washington at which I presented the findings) was an independent peer review of key evidence and provision of my own evidence during the negotiations between Aeras and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation over a $200m grant, at the time the largest grant by the Foundation to a PDP (Product Development Partnership). I am told that this report was important in identifying potential commercial partners for the new MVA85A TB vaccine candidate developed at the University of Oxford (see a press release here).

A Global Medical Research and Development Treaty: An answer to global health needs? International Policy Network Working Papers on Intellectual Property, Innovation and Health, June 2007

TB Drug Development Portfolio Figures May 2006, Report modelling TB drug portfolio figures for the TB Alliance. This supports ‘Developing Drugs for Tuberculosis’, February 2007, Science

The Science, Economics, and Politics of Malaria Vaccine Policy, Submission to UK Department for International Development APC consultation process and the Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap, and a Response to the Tremonti Report to G8 Finance Ministers.
With thanks to the US Council on Foreign Relations, for picking up on this report, and making it a 'Must Read' ("Seminal analysis and inquiries into foreign policy and national security issues"). Most recent version of full report: 14 April 2006. Report covered in Economics Focus of The Economist, March 2006. This report emphasised the importance of thinking of malaria vaccines as part of a package of measures to tackle malaria and adjusting vaccine targets (such as efficacy) accordingly, the need to think through the best way to minimise both the development and production costs of vaccines and ensure long-term supply, the need to greatly improve cost-effective evidence, the various tradeoffs between different vaccine goals, and the importance of dealing with ‘risks’ appropriately. It also argued that the field needed to adopt a much broader focus for malaria vaccine development and to not narrow the search down too much and to emphasise a higher efficacy goal (see recent, November 2009, developments in this direction here and here).

Executive Summary of "The Science, Economics, and Politics of Malaria Vaccine Policy"

Accelerating the Innovation of Vaccines: Can the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, Malaria Vaccine Initiatives, and Purchase Commitments Deliver? in Innovation Strategy Today (BioDevelopments International Institute, Cornell University, and the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University) July 2005. Section 5, pp 154-164, ‘Collaborative Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise: Four Interlocking Components’ makes some tentative suggestions on the shape of a Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise; it also includes some early thinking about patent pooling for complimentary HIV vaccine patents, something now being tried by UNITAID for HIV drug patents. Section 4, pp 149-154, gives some background to the thinking; in particular, the section ‘Overlap and Need for Expanded Focus’ emphasises the importance of improving and deepening the scientific basis of HIV vaccine research – such as understanding the molecular details of HIV infection and the immune system response – and of broadening the approach to include ‘neglected vaccine concepts’, moving away from a concentration on vaccines based only on cell-mediated immunity, CMI. In recent years a consensus has grown in the field around these two views (totally independent of anything I ever wrote no doubt, based more on the sole searching after the failure in 2007 of a CMI vaccine candidate at a late stage of development).

The cost of R&D: How much money is needed to address the current need? PowerPoint presentation at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, International Conference on Ensuring Innovation for Neglected Diseases, London, United Kingdom, 8 June 2005

Purchase Commitments for Vaccines: Their Uses and Their Limitations PowerPoint presentation at the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, 5 April 2005, updated 16 May 2005

Concerns Regarding "Making Markets for Vaccines" Submission to Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, WHO, 29 April 2005, Andrew Farlow, Donald Light, Richard Mahoney, and Roy Widdus

The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, Malaria Vaccines, and Purchase Commitments: What is the Fit? Submission to Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, WHO, 22 March 2005. An earlier, shorter, version of this paper was delivered to HM Treasury analyzing the creation of a "Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise" and the role and nature of purchase commitments within such a framework. The latter half suggests a blueprint for the "Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise"

Executive Summary of "The Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, Malaria Vaccines, and Purchase Commitments: What is the Fit?" 22 March 2005

An Analysis of the Problems of R&D Finance for Vaccines April 2004. Reposted March 2005. A PowerPoint presentation based on this paper for meetings in Malaysia (Neglected Diseases Group (NDG) Meeting, Universiti Sains Malaysia), Washington, London, and Austria is available on request

Capital Costs, Cost-Effectiveness of HIV APC, and Speed of Vaccine Development WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health Open Discussion Forum, 10 December 2004

The Lancet book review of "Strong Medicine" (Lancet pdf version) (plain pdf version) 4 December 2004

Costs of Monopoly Pricing under Patent Protection "Access to Medicines and the Financing of Innovations in Health Care" conference, The Program on Science, Technology, and Global Development at The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, December 2003

Tobin Tax: Alternative Finance for Health R&D? Presentation for the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Frati Dialogue, Bellagio, Italy, September 24-29, 2003. Contains an evaluation of the Tobin Tax as a mechanism to raise finance for health R&D

Aids and Sub-Saharan Africa February 2003. A few thoughts on President Bush's State of the Union pledge of $15 billion HIV/AIDS funding

Global economy, real estate markets, banking, emerging markets

Crash & Beyond: Causes and Consequences of the Global Financial Crisis: Book forthcoming with Oxford University Press, December 2010. The book launch will be accompanied by the launch of a blog.

A recent opinion piece on the global financial crisis can be found here

The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Cures Presentation at the International Consulting Economists' Association, The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London, February 2009

Housing, consumption, and the economy: Why do house prices become misaligned, and what are the consequences?
Guest Lecture, The London Business School, 2 June 2005

Part Three: UK House Prices, Consumption and GDP in a Global Context January 2005. Recommended by Hamish McRae in the Independent on Sunday I am told by investment banking colleagues that this was very prescient and ‘got many key points right’ about the crisis. Part three explores a range of issues key to the global financial crisis of a few years later, including: the unsustainable imbalances in global financial flows, savings, consumption and government spending, particularly with respect to the US and China but also the UK; the overly-loose monetary policy; the disregard for risk that showed up in speculative investment in mortgage and housing markets in particular many countries and the overuse of debt-based finance on a global scale; the dangers when the financial bubble of the late 1990s shifted from being equity-based to become debt-based in the 2000s, and the way in which it would shift then to government balance sheets (a ‘shifting bubble’); the precarious short-term revolving nature of much mortgage activity and the potential for financial and real economic contagion to spread to the rest of the world from problems in mortgage banking when that market finally proved to be insufficiently deep and malfunctioned, and the way in which this would put the US and its mortgage market, but also that of countries like the UK, at the centre of a global downswing; the balance-sheet nature of the ensuing economic problems as households sought to deleverage and increase their savings at the same time as governments were much more fiscally burdened too; the need in advance to hold smaller budget deficits in developed economies to help cushion this impact when it came; the particular dangers for the UK because of a growing government deficit and shrinking cushion, that made the UK particularly vulnerable when correction eventually came; the unconventional monetary policy that would be needed when standard interest rate tools could not go below zero percent; and the knife-edge balance between inflation and deflation during the recovery phase.

Part Two: Bubbles and Buyers January 2004 version (updating of May 2003 version, prepared for Credit Suisse First Boston). Recommended by Martin Wolf in the Financial Times

Part One: UK House Prices: A Critical Assessment January 2004 version (updating of May 2003 version, prepared for Credit Suisse First Boston). Recommended by Martin Wolf in the Financial Times

Out of the blue, in April 2010 I was told that the article by Martin Wolf in the Financial Times that outlined the key arguments of Part One and Part Two of my analysis running up to the recent financial crisis caused British Prime Minister Tony Blair sufficient concern that he asked the UK Treasury for a full briefing note. This got some coverage here: A Prime minister who knows something about the economy? (“In fact, according to some documents teased out of the Treasury ... it turns out Blair was rather more worried about the state of the economy than you might have thought…It underlines the simple fact that the Treasury under Gordon Brown was blind to the possibility that things could go horribly wrong – even within the confines of Downing Street. It turns out no-one was allowed to challenge the ‘end to boom and bust’ trope – even Tony Blair himself”); here (which contains the Freedom Of Information request, that I knew nothing about, that led to this revelation, and also a link to the Treasury briefing); and here (the Treasury briefing, in its comments regarding first time buyers, is described as an “admission from the Treasury under Gordon Brown's reign as chancellor [that] runs counter to previous government rhetoric...etc.”). It is always reassuring to hear that people in high places get to hear about your work, less encouraging to hear that it didn’t make any difference!

Part Four: Risk premia in housing markets
Part Five: Global banking liquidity, mortgage markets and housing

Presentation: UK House Prices, Consumption and GDP in a Global Context, Conference hosted by John D Wood & Co. London, 20 January 2005

Slightly shortened versions of the following papers appeared for Oxford Analytica:

Bubbles and Emerging Market Crises November 2003

Is the US Heading for a Fiscal Crisis? November 2003

Emerging Markets: An assessment of the balance of emerging market risks and the sources of crises November 2003

Recent activities

Selected recent presentations, guest lectures, and meetings

2007-2010: My approach to global health issues is highly collaborative. One objective has been to share knowledge and learning across different groups working on similar themes; good practice can therefore be picked up, shared and encouraged, and less good approaches can be avoided and replaced. Just recently, this has been extremely valuable in my thinking about TB and malaria vaccines, drugs and diagnostics in particular. The research group held in-depth meetings with the Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI); International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI); Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation; Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND); International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM); TB Alliance; PATH (Human papillomavirus, meningitis, and Japanese encephalitis vaccine teams); Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi); Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases; Sanofi Pasteur; GlaxoSmithKline; InViragen; Hawaii Biotech; Merck Vaccines; Pfizer; WHO (Immunization Vaccines and Biologicals, and Initiative for Vaccine Research); GAVI Alliance; UNICEF; Oxford Insect Technologies (OXITEC); Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute; Lille University; Imperial College London; Spatial Ecology and Epidemiology Group, Zoology Department, Oxford; Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford; the Institute for Emergent Infections of Humans, James Martin 21st Century School, Oxford; and other Oxford infectious disease mapping researchers.

December 2010: UK Department of Health, International Division, Stakeholder meeting ahead of WHO Executive Board meeting in January 2010

October 2009: Fondation Merieux, Veyrier-du-Lac, France. Second meeting of the Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles for new TB vaccines (WHO, Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

September 2009: Vice Chancellor’s Global Health Research Forum, University of Oxford: Presentation: ‘“Where’s all the money gone?” Financial crisis and global health spending: Priority setting past, present and future’

March 2009: Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), varicella zoster subgroup meeting, Department of Health, London

February 2009: International Consulting Economists' Association, The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London. Presentation: ‘The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Cures’

February 2009: G-FINDER (Global Funding of Innovation for Neglected Diseases), George Institute for international Health (project financed by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) report launch meeting, Royal College of Physicians, London. Short talk and panel member

December 2008: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. First meeting of the Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles for new TB vaccines, presentation (WHO, Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

November 2008: Health Impact Fund meeting, Lincoln College, Oxford. Response presentation and panel discussion

November 2008: Zoology Dept, University of Oxford, ‘Science and Public Health Policy’ presentation and discussion

October 2008: Pfizer Inc Headquarters, New York, ‘Global Health Access: The Challenges of Finance and Sustainability’

September 2007: ‘Oxford Conference on Innovation and Technology Transfer for Global Health’, inaugural conference ‘Bridging the Gap in Global Health Innovation — From Needs to Access’. Conference co-organiser, and speaker: ‘The intersection of economics and access’. Conference financially supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

July 2007: Managua, Nicaragua. Americas Dengue Prevention Board inaugural meeting. Presentation and discussion: 'Dengue vaccine: An assessment of market, coordination, and risk factors’

July 2007: Aeras Global Vaccine Foundation, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Presentation in Washington: ‘An Independent Assessment of Tuberculosis Vaccines: The Case for Investment’. 2.5 hour slot in an all-day Aeras and BMGF meeting to discuss the case for investment during Aeras grant renewal process

July 2007: 2020 Health. All-party (UK Parliament MPs and Lords) meeting, London. Discussant and (after the event) reviewer of report: ‘Modern Vaccines, Modern World’

May 2007: MacArthur Foundation workshop on maternal mortality, University of Oxford. Social Science convenor. Presentation: ‘Magnesium Sulfate for the Management of Pre-Eclampsia and Eclampsia: Some Economic and Cost Reflections’

May 2007: WHO Geneva missions (China, South Korea, Germany, Brazil). Discussions.

May 2007: International Policy Network, Intercontinental Hotel, Geneva, Switzerland. Presentation based on paper being launched, and debate: ‘A Global Medical Research and Development Treaty: An answer to global health needs?’

April 2007: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Workshop on Incentives for R&D, New York. A meeting to review recent work by the Office of Health Economics for BMGF on R&D incentives. Asked to provide a peer review for the meeting

April 2007: Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton, New Jersey. Public Lecture: ‘The State of Global Health Funding Initiatives’

April 2007: PDVI Board of Counsellors meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii: presentation

December 2006: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Asia Dengue Prevention Board inaugural meeting: presentation

November 2006: Tanaka Business School, Imperial College, London, ‘Brainstorming meeting on universal access to HIV medicines’ (Imperial College London, Department for International Development [DfID], International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and Stop AIDS Campaign). Participant.

October 2006: Wellcome Trust, Vaccinology Frontiers Meeting, Hampshire, United Kingdom: ‘Bringing industry and academia together for the next generation of vaccines’. Presentation: ‘What are the economic drivers affecting vaccine R&D?’

June 2006: Brussels. 'Connecting the Chain: A concerted "end to end" approach to the development of drugs and vaccines against poverty-related diseases'. High-level, invitational stakeholder forum (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership [EDCTP] and Netherlands-African Partnership for Capacity Development and Clinical Trials [NACCAP]). Invited participant

May 2006: Advised TB Alliance on TB Drug Development Portfolio Figures. Analysis of Monte Carlo simulations of TB drug portfolio

April 2006: WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Meeting: ‘Intellectual Property Management Strategies to Accelerate the Development and Access of Vaccines and Diagnostics: Case Studies on Pandemic Influenza, Malaria and SARS’. Invited participant/presenter. Paper produced from meeting here.

April 2006: Dengue Viral Entry. Three-day scientific workshop in Oxford on dengue virus (virus-cell interactions, recognition and responses, ligands and APC receptors, cell interactions, lessons from other viruses and prospects for Flaviviruses). Participant

September 2005: Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap, Oxford: Participant

June 2005: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, International Conference on Ensuring Innovation for Neglected Diseases, London, United Kingdom. Presentation: ‘The Cost of R&D: How Much Money is Needed to Address the Current Need?’

June 2005: The London Business School. Guest Lecture: ‘Housing, Consumption, and the Economy: Why do House Prices Become Misaligned, and What are the Consequences?’

June 2005: Geneva, Switzerland, WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, stakeholder meeting. Participant

April 2005: Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Pheonix, Arizona. Guest Lecture

January 2005: John D Wood & Co. London. Invited Paper and Guest Lecture: ‘UK House Prices, Consumption and GDP in a Global Context’

February 2004: University Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, Neglected Diseases Group (NDG) Meeting. Presentation/discussant

January 2004: Salzburg, Austria, Dutch Government and WHO. Presentation at Stakeholder meeting for 7th European Framework for projects in health (2007-2010)

December 2003: The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York, The Program on Science, Technology, and Global Development. Conference ‘Access to Medicines and the Financing of Innovations in Health Care.’ Invited Presentation: ‘Costs of Monopoly Pricing Under Patent Protection’

September 2003: The Rockefeller Foundation and Consumer Project on Technology. Bellagio, Italy, Conference: ‘New Framework for Supporting Health Research and Development.’ Invited Participant and Presentation: ‘Alternative Finance Ideas for Health R&D’

July 2003: The Rockefeller Foundation, New York. Meeting on ‘Access to medicines and intellectual property’, covering a Review of TRIPS-Plus Provisions, TRIPS and Regional Markets, and Regional Pooled Procurement.

July 2003: The Ford Foundation, New York. Meeting on ‘International Trade and Intellectual Property Rules: Challenges to Safeguarding Public Health.’ Organised by The Ford Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, United Nations Development Program, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs

July 2003: Oriel College, Oxford, Senior Library. During the celebrations to launch the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, organised a public lecture on ‘Democracy in South Africa’ for Patricia de Lille, leader of the Independent Democrats, a South African political party, who along with Nelson Mandela and others had helped to write the new Constitution of South Africa. The lecture and discussion was attended by about 100 Rhodes Scholars of all ages, including two US Senators. Organised meetings with a range of UK government Ministers and officials and with UK groups working on HIV.

May 2003: Credit Suisse First Boston, London, England. Invited presentation and paper: ‘UK House Prices: A Critical Assessment’

Other academic service, refereeing, advice, and consultancy

I try to be as generous as I possibly can be regarding the work of a very wide range of global health colleagues as we collectively explore how to improve and advance global health policy.

Co-organiser Oxford Conference on Innovation and Technology Transfer for Global Health (with the generous financial support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), and jointly in charge of conference dissemination strategy.

Task Force on Economics and Product Profiles of the Stop TB Working Group on New Vaccines (Aeras, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and WHO): Member, and member of subgroups ‘“Develop Target Product Profiles” and “Financing, and Advocacy; Validation of Market Estimates”. I was tasked with the job of scoping out the research strategy of the Task Force.

WHO Expert Working Group on R&D Financing: Expert testimony on evaluation framework, evaluation criteria and Inventory of financing proposals of the EWG. Over the years I have promoted the notion of policy makers looking at these issues through the lenses of ‘risk’ and ‘coordination’ and this is reflected here. My testimony is here.

Pharmaceutical R&D Policy Project, LSE (which moved to the George Institute for International Health) and the Health Policy Division of the George Institute for International Health, Australia; Help with developing modelling tools (especially portfolio analysis of malaria drugs and vaccines and thoughts on the G-Finder process, both financially supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) and pre-publication review.

Dalberg, Global Development Advisors: Advice on research into funding mechanisms and R&D incentives for malaria (funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Independently reviewed the IFF-Nd (International Financing Facility for Neglected Disease) proposal when it was going through HM Treasury in 2007. Academic contributor to work on extensions of the principle of the ‘Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria’ (the financing mechanism to subsidize malaria ACTs globally implemented by the Global Fund with strong support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) to other development topics inside and outside of global health. Advice on Fund for R&D in Neglected Diseases (FRIND).

Results for Development Institute: Early help thinking through how to set up rigorous and independent analysis for a three-year project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation titled ‘Assessing Innovations in Global Health R&D Policy and Financing’. Project Page here. I hope to be able to make useful further contributions as the project progresses.

Office of Health Economics, London: Feedback on a selection of work, including independent peer review of R&D modelling by OHE for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The X PRIZE Foundation: Advice on the design of a prize for effective diagnosis of tuberculosis in the developing world. Planning grant to develop the prize provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The World Economic Forum, i.e. ‘Davos’, Global Health Initiative, ''Tackling Tuberculosis: The Business Response' 2008, reviewed report for authors.

Aeras and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Independent peer review of TB vaccine market and investment case analysis, and submission of own analysis to help the Foundation make its TB vaccine funding decision.

I am currently heavily engaged in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s efforts to improve the management and efficiency of the dengue vaccine space. Watch this space as they say!

TB Alliance: Analysis and advice regarding value of TB drugs portfolio and future funding needs.

Health2020: Paper on ‘Modern Vaccines.’ Contributor and referee.

WHO, UNDP, World Bank, DFID, UK Treasury, Médecins Sans Frontières, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Oxfam, ActionAid. Advising various staff of these organisations on issues relating to the economics of global health and R&D.

At the moment I am working in particular with a wide range of colleagues in WHO, industry and academia on the idea of creating more rigorous and independent cost effectiveness analysis, and encouraging more decision-making capacity in countries themselves to use that analysis so that they have more influence over the funding decisions at the global level. Part of this effort involves thinking about better measurement of both inputs and health outcomes.

Routledge: Economic book referee

Oxford University Press: Economic book referee

Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI): Peer review analysis of cost effectiveness evidence submitted to JCVI

JCVI, Subcommittee on varicella zoster (chickenpox, shingles): Member

Economic Journal: Academic referee

The Lancet: Academic referee

Health Policy and Planning (LSHTM): Academic Referee

Oxford Review of Economic Policy: Academic Referee

Economic and Social Research Council: Research grant peer reviewer

National Institute for Health Research: Research grant peer reviewer

World Bank: Academic Referee

PLoS Medicine: Academic Referee

British Council: Grant peer reviewer

Oxford Economics M.Phil. thesis examiner

Oriel College, University of Oxford: Member of the Selection Committee for the Herbert and Ilse Frankel Studentship.

Centre for Global Development: insights, contributions and comments on front-loading finance into vaccines and other global health work.

Oxford Analytica: Articles and advising/refereeing: emerging markets; banking; the US fiscal position; pandemic flu.

Advice to various government officials, including from Italy, Holland, Germany, Korea, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand, and US.

Credit Suisse First Boston: Articles and advice on: financial bubbles; real estate.

Goldman Sachs: Advice on: risk assessment; equity markets; banking.

South African Competition Commission, and Consumer Project on Technology, Washington DC: Advice on submission to South African Competition Commission on the pricing of AIDS drugs in South Africa.

WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health: Extremely generous in giving feedback to others regarding their submissions to CIPIH, providing in the region of 150,000 words over two years (at one key meeting in June 2005, all four presentations in one session acknowledged Farlow's contribution).

Various biotech companies: Advised on strategic issues of companies researching into neglected diseases.

Liberal Democrat Party, UK: Although politically independent, advised on work of the Macroeconomics Policy Working Group.

Calvert Investments, advice to ethical investment initiative.

Teaching

Teaching at Oxford

I currently teach microeconomics for Finals students at Oriel College.

I also teach ‘Vaccine Deployment and Policies’ for the Vaccinology Module of the Masters of Science (MSc) in Global Health.

I have advised Oxford students and researchers on a wide range of global health research projects. Recent projects have included:

i) The R&D issues surrounding pediatric antiretrovirals for children with HIV;

ii) Vaccine strategies (in particular choice of vaccine) for global polio eradication;

iii) A comparative study of health system performance in several developing countries;

iv) The financial aspects of developing a telediagnostic kit and service for malaria and chikungunya infections in rural areas of Kenya;

v) Needle-free vaccine technologies;

vi) Global health IP issues;

vii) Product Development Partnerships, governance and incentive issues;

viii) Pneumococcal vaccines;

ix) The economics of thermostable vaccines;

x) ‘Innovative’ global health financing.

As best I can, I also give feedback to students from outside Oxford who enquire about their global health research projects.

In 2004-2006, I was an Exam Moderator for the Prelims Economics component of the degrees of Philosophy, Politics & Economics, and History & Economics, at the Department of Economics, University of Oxford. I have also been an M.Phil. thesis examiner.

I was in charge of Economics studies at Oriel College for six years till 2006, teaching both macroeconomics and microeconomics at all levels, before concentrating on my global health research agenda. I previously taught (microeconomics, macroeconomics, industrial organisation, banking, and finance) at several other colleges of the University of Oxford: I was Tutor for Economics at Christ Church College, St. Edmund Hall, Hertford College, Worcester College, and Keble College.

I was part-time research officer for a year at Oxford's (then) Institute of Economics and Statistics.

Recent media and public profile

If quoting a position being taken by Andrew Farlow, please refer to the original works above

British Medical Journal, 4 November 2009 (web)

Financial Times, 4 February 2009 (web)

Daily Telegraph, 14 November 2008 (web)

British Medical Journal, Editorial, August 2008 (web)
Financial Times Weekend, 25 January 2008 (web) Financial Times Weekend, 25 January 2008 (MHTML)
Wall Street Journal, 31 December 2007 (web)

Pharmalot, 20 August 2007 (web)
Nature, 16 August 2007 (web)

Wall Street Reporter, Biomed, March 2007 (web)
Science Magazine, letter, 23 February 2007 (web) Science Magazine, letter, 23 February 2007 (pdf)
Scientific American, 12 Feb 2007 (web)

Astra Zeneca, Italia, 22 January 2007 (web)
TIME Magazine Global Health, 19 July 2006 (web)
Accra Mail, Ghana, 17 July 2006 (web) Accra Mail, Ghana, 17 July 2006 (web, allAfrica.com)
Straights Times, Singapore, 15 July 2006 (web) Straights Times, Singapore, 15 July 2006 (web, International Policy Network)
Cape Times, South Africa, 14 July 2006 (web) Cape Times, South Africa, 14 July 2006 (web, International Policy Network)
The Economist, Economics Focus, 25 March 2006 (web) The Economist, Economics Focus, 25 March 2006 (pdf)
Pharma Marketletter, 20 February 2006 (pdf)
The Independent on Sunday, 19 February 2006 (pdf)
Financial Times, 16 February 2006 (web)
The Times, 13 February 2006 (web)
Slate magazine, 29 December 2005 (web)
Vanguardia, Mexico, November 2005 (web)
La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, November 2005 (web)
Newsweek, 14 November 2005 (web)
Property Investor News, September 2005 (web) or Property Investor News, September 2005 (pdf)
Financial Times, 17 September 2005 (web)
Financial Times, Analysis, 30 August 2005 (web)
Sina, China, 10 August 2005 (MHTML)
Financial Times, Letters Page, 24 June 2005 (web) or Financial Times, Letters Page, 24 June 2005 (pdf)
Pattaya Mail, Thailand, 12 August 2004 (web) or Pattaya Mail, Thailand, 12 August 2004 (pdf)
The Economist, 12 June 2004 (web) or The Economist, 12 June 2004 (pdf)
The Oxford Times, 14 May 2004 (pdf)
The Financial Times, 16 April 2004 (pdf)
The New Straits Times, Malaysia, 14 March 2004 (pdf)
The Guardian, 15 May 2003 (web) or The Guardian, 15 May 2003 (pdf)
The Independent, 14 May 2003 (pdf)
Börse Online, 30 January 2003 (pdf)
The Estates Gazette, 11 January 2003 (pdf)
The Sunday Times, 8 December 2002 (pdf)
The Financial Times, Comment and Analysis, 29 November 2002 (pdf)

Oxford Conference on Innovation and Technology Transfer for Global Health

In 2007 I helped to organise a conference on innovation, technology transfer and global health. Together with Gill Samuels, Foundation Chair of the Global Forum for Health Research, I was in charge of gathering the lessons and disseminating the findings. Most of the work for write-up was done by Rachelle Harris and Sarah Miller. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation generously paid the costs of thirty delegates from developing and middle-income countries so that the discussion was firmly rooted in their experiences. With the kind permission of his widow, we called these supported delegates ‘Sanjaya Lall Fellows’ in memory of Oxford Economist Sanjaya Lall. The Foundation also generously provided funds towards the conference write-up and long-term dissemination of findings.

The ‘inaugural’ conference was held in Oxford in September 2007. The files were held on a purpose-made webpage for a year. After this was switched off by the business school, the files were transferred here for storage. If funding and logistics ever permit, a follow-on conference will be arranged.

IN MEMORY OF SANJAYA LALL:

Sanjaya Lall, A primer on industrial and technological innovation

MAIN CONFERENCE FILES:

Conference Objectives

Conference Schedule

Conference Themes: A research agenda for the future

Final Report Executive Summary

Conference Final Report

List of Delegates and their Affiliations

List of Sanjaya Lall Fellows

Post-conference Testimonials

REPORTS ON INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS: