Vaccine Case Studies

Malaria Vaccine R&D Portfolio Analysis & Investment Strategy

Situation

The Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) was founded in 1999 to accelerate the development of promising malaria vaccine candidates and ensure their availability and accessibility in the developing world. MVI has partnered with many academic, government, and industry research and development organizations to support dozens of vaccine trials, including several endemic population trials in Africa. MVI?s R&D portfolio contains 11 ongoing vaccine candidate programs, including the first malaria vaccine to move into Phase III trials.

MVI had some of the same issues as a medium-size biotech, in particular, a large product portfolio that needed to be prioritized and managed. The pharmaceutical industry has developed best practice management processes that help maximize the potential value of the R&D portfolio. In the global health community, however, portfolio management is not routinely practiced, even though maximizing the return on these investments could be measured in lives saved.

Applied Strategies management has been playing a key role in bringing some of these best practices to global health vaccine teams, and MVI initiated a project with us to design and implement a comprehensive portfolio management process.

Contribution

• Established a management committee, and program teams with clearly defined decision-making processes and charters
• Defined team member roles and responsibilities and selecting the required team members consistent with these defined roles
• Designed team and cross-team processes that ensure efficient use of MVI resources
• Developed a comprehensive implementation plan to ensure a successful rollout, completion of key design activities, and ongoing monitoring and refinement

Results

• R&D management driven by a portfolio, rather than an individual project, perspective
• All vaccine projects managed consistently and rigorously
• More consistent and transparent vaccine investment and development decisions
• Decision-making responsibility placed at the appropriate levels
• More effective and credible reviews with external stakeholders, including donors, scientific advisors, and R&D partners
• Enhanced return on MVI R&D investments

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