The Gates Foundation: Perfectly Aligned Interests

In the third part of her interview with Pharmaceutical Executive, Sandra Coufal, MD, CEO of Toragen, traces the origins of the company’s relationship with The Gates Foundation through a 21-year history with the foundation via the Novartis Research Foundation, and explains how a single set of Phase 1 results became the catalyst for a transformative funding commitment.

The Gates Foundation’s interest centers on cervical cancer, which Coufal describes as the leading cause of cancer death among women across Africa, with over 99% of cases HPV-induced. The Foundation’s longstanding challenge with existing HPV cancer treatments has been delivery: every approved therapy is a biologic requiring injection, a significant barrier in regions with limited healthcare infrastructure.

Toragen’s oral small molecule formulation changes that equation entirely.

The result, as Coufal puts it, is a partnership where the interests of a global health philanthropist and a for-profit biotech are naturally and perfectly aligned.