Post by Sia/LBG

Congratulations to our colleagues Lauren Schoukroun Barnes, PhD, PMP, CSCP, RAC and Chris Peterson, who co-authored a new peer-reviewed study in PLOS Global Public Health, alongside Shankar Suryanarayanan and an outstanding research team from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Gates Foundation. A special shout-out to the Hopkins team, and to Jean Christophe Rusatira in particular, for leading this important effort. The paper introduces a term for a practice the industry has long discussed but rarely named: “tiered manufacturing.” Drawing on 31 in-depth interviews with pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, procurement, and regulatory experts, the study documents how the same medicine can be produced to different standards depending on its destination market. The authors argue that tiered manufacturing should be recognized as a commercial determinant of health. They also highlight practical levers to help close the gap, including: ✔️ Regulatory reliance on WHO prequalification and approvals from stringent regulatory authorities ✔️ Quality-based procurement requirements ✔️ Greater transparency across the supply chain ✔️ Sustained investment in local manufacturing and regulatory capacity This is an important contribution to the conversation on medicine quality, equity, and global health; and a reminder that access must mean access to products of assured quality, everywhere. 📖 Read the full open-access paper: https://lnkd.in/gvrHM7jK #GlobalHealth #PharmaceuticalQuality #HealthEquity #DrugRegulation #CommercialDeterminantsOfHealth