Just Medicine: Bringing Healthcare Justice and Equity to Africa and Beyond
Track
Justice & Economic Prosperity for All
Format
Panel (3 speakers)
Speakers
- NameMenghis Bairu
- TitleCo-Founder, CEO, and President
- OrganizationBio Usawa, Inc.
- NameJohn Ainslie
- TitleAnalyst
- OrganizationYosemite Venture Capital (previously of Emerson Collective)
- NameGary Pierce
- TitleCo-Founder, Executive Director and Board Chair
- OrganizationServare Biologics
Description
SESSION DESCRIPTION (could fit well under either/both Justice & Economic Prosperity and Catalytic Capital):
Thirty years ago, if you contracted incurable disease like HER2 positive breast cancer, it didn’t matter whether you lived in a High-Income Country (HIC) or not. Outcomes were dismal for all. Today, with drugs like Herceptin, cure rates for patients in high income countries routinely exceed 90%. In Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMICs), where modern drugs cost tens of thousands of dollars, survival still hovers around 10% – essentially unchanged from decades ago.
In the past, patients with cancer around the world died because there was no cure. Today, many cancers are curable but most patients around the planet die from those cancers because they cannot afford the therapies enjoyed by those living in HICs.
Similarly, mothers are bleeding to death after childbirth because they can’t access oxytocin, and millions of patients are going blind because they can’t access Lucentis.
The barrier to equitable access is not science, nor is it the cost of manufacturing. As well, the income levels in Africa and other LMICs are now at a point where a profitable and sustainable business can be built around domestic manufacturing and delivery of low-cost medicines. Rather, the barrier is in technology transfer and access to catalytic capital.
This panel will explore how, with current technology, LMIC income levels, and vibrant entrepreneurship, health justice can be achieved.
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About Bio Usawa
About Bio Usawa: Based in Rwanda, Kenya, and United States, Bio Usawa is a biotechnology company developing affordable biologics for patients with cancer, blindness, and other serious diseases in Africa and beyond. Led by Dr. Menghis Bairu, a widely-recognized biotech executive originally from Eritrea, and using leading edge technology, Bio Usawa is building state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing plants in Rwanda, Kenya, and Senegal.
