Duke Faculty-Proposed Voucher System helping Impact Investors Address Global Health

A new treatment to help eliminate a neglected tropical disease was developed thanks in part to an incentive program devised by researchers at Duke University.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved moxidectin, a drug developed by non-profit biopharmaceutical company Medicines Development for Global Health. Moxidectin treats river blindness, a parasitic infection that affects more than 15 million people worldwide. The firm will be awarded a voucher for priority review of another drug, under a system first proposed by David Ridley, a professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of BusinessHenry Grabowski of the Duke Department of Economics, and Jeffrey Moe, of the Duke Global Health Institute.

Cathy Clark of CASE i3 commented on the success of the voucher program and the role of impact investors in creating cross-sector partnerships for impact on global heath problems.

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