April 24, 2015, Siem Reap / Geneva - The Global Drug Facility (GDF), the procurement arm of the Stop TB Partnership conducted the annual stakeholders meeting during April 22-23 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, for its partners involved in the supply of first-line and second-line drugs to treat TB in adults and children. In addition, a special one-day workshop was organized dedicated to existing and forthcoming manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Finished Pharmaceutical Products (FPP) for TB medicines. The workshop preceded the main event.
The stakeholders meeting was presented with an update on the activities of the GDF, and saw discussions on market dynamics for anti-TB medicines. During the consultation with suppliers, new developments and potential future strategies were discussed. Some of the challenges that were highlighted, include ensuring adequate anti-TB product supplies, especially after 2017 when new studies supporting shorter regimens for multi-drug resistant TB would be finalized. Introduction of new medicines to fight TB was discussed.
The event also provided an opportunity to reflect on supplier performance in the past year as part of GDF’s regular management review in accordance with ISO 9001:2008 standards.
"This year, the GDF stakeholders meeting was designed as an opportunity for more consultations. It was meant to spur strategic forward thinking with suppliers on new strategies and approaches to build the post-2015 agenda to support new drugs introduction. This was an occasion to look at the evolving landscape for changes in potential procurement patterns in line with current new drugs pipeline and diagnostics," Joel Keravec, GDF manager said.
GDF is happy to note, that the stakeholders meeting was the largest of all previous annual stakeholders meetings, with 54 participants represented by manufacturers, donors and supply partners.
Representatives from national TB programs of India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Indonesia also attended the meeting to provide country perspective to GDF suppliers. The host country - Cambodia - and the GDF have had a collaborative partnership. The country has been using GDF services without interruption since 2002 for drugs procurement through both, the grants mechanism and through direct procurement, with great outcomes with no stock-outs reported.
See agenda and the list of participants for the meeting that was held during April 22-23, 2015.