Islamic impact bond to fund in-home health care
NEW YORK: New forms of capital raising are being deployed to underpin in-home health care services.
After a dozen deals, Global Health Investment Fund has overcome a rocky start. The Global Health Investment Fund is nearly fully invested after leading a $10 million round of financing for Alydia Health, a Menlo Park, Calif., company with a low-cost device to treat postpartum hemorrhage. It is the 12th investment for the $108 million fund, launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and JPMorgan Chase, which nearly didn’t get off the ground. Now, the fund’s portfolio of a dozen novel health approaches includes a rapid diagnostic test for HIV, malaria, Ebola and other diseases; a powerless cataract surgery device; a cholera vaccine; and snakebite anti-venom.
The Global Health Investment Fund was one of the first to leverage “priority review vouchers” to offset drug development costs. Developers of drugs for eligible tropical and neglected disease can get expedited regulatory review and a transferable voucher for expedited review of another drug. Such vouchers have been sold for up to $350 million. “Big pharmaceutical companies will pay a lot of money to get their blockbuster drug reviewed quickly,” said GHIF’s Curtis LaBelle.
The investment in Alydia Health reflects the fund’s original intent. The device was originally developed to reduce maternal mortality in developing countries, before the company changed its strategy (and its name) to focus on the U.S. market. The new investment will help Alydia work towards regulatory clearance – and also help make the medical device accessible and affordable in low-income countries after all. “This isn’t just money you can take and go on your merry way,” LaBelle says. “It comes with obligations.”
