The politics of the health industry complex in times of change

• Grant number: 21/06202-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants - Phase 2
• Start date: May 01, 2022
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration - Public Administration
• Principal Investigator: Elize Massard da Fonseca
• Grantee: Elize Massard da Fonseca
• Host Institution: Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (EAESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Francisco Inacio Pinkusfeld Monteiro Bastos ; Kenneth Shadlen
• Associated research grant: 15/18604-5 - Policies to increase the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical sector: Brazil's experience, AP.JP
• Associated research grant(s): 23/01272-6 - Brazil's response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR): institutionalization and governance during public health crises, AP.R
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/18622-2 - The Politics of Strengthening Regulatory Capacity in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of Pharmaceutical Regulation in Brazil and Colombia, BP.DR; 24/08025-7 - The politics and governance of COVID-19 vaccine regulation, BP.TT; 24/00811-3 - The Governance and Politics of Pharmaceutical Regulation, BP.PD; + associated scholarships 24/00004-0 - Scientific Communication in Health: Managing Emerging Risks in Healthcare, BP.JC; 24/00015-2 - Scientific Communication in Health: Strengthening Trust in Vaccines, BP.JC; 24/02904-9 - Scientific dissemination of project JP Phase 2: "The Politics of the Health Industry Complex in Times of Change", BP.JC; 24/00003-4 - Scientific Communication in Health: Managing Emerging Risks in Healthcare, BP.JC; 23/09432-2 - The politics of financing health in the context of universal healthcare, BP.DD; 23/03660-3 - Dissemination of research findings of the study "The politics of the health industry complex in times of change", BP.JC; 22/16435-5 - Reforming health surveillance in Brazil, BP.MS; 22/10029-5 - Support for field research and project management, BP.TT; 22/08616-0 - Building local capabilities to produce vaccines and biological medicines: Brazil in comparative perspective, BP.PD; 22/07849-0 - Civil society, the COVID-19 pandemic, and universal access to medicines in Brazil: building a better framework, BP.PD; 22/06672-0 - Politics and governance of drug regulation and technology transfer, BP.IC - associated scholarships

Abstract

This research will continue the study of the health industry complex (CIS), an array of instruments to align health policy with industrial policy. We began this research a decade ago, and we now aim to expand it to the case of COVID-19. The pandemic has shifted the incentives of biomedical innovation, promoted collaboration among drug regulatory agencies in ways never seen before, and reshaped the debate around access to medicine and vaccines. Notwithstanding many controversial aspects of Brazil's reaction to COVID-19, the country is exploring these novel opportunities to procure, regulate, and produce vaccines as it has for other infectious diseases. These responses-currently in the case of COVID-19 and in past with the cases of HIV and hepatitis C-have important implications for pandemic preparedness and conceptualization of health industry policies. Our research program, which will be grounded in qualitative and epidemiological analyses, is structured around three axes: (1) Politics and governance of technology transfer for pharmaceuticals, (2) Regulatory capacity building, (3) Policy and politics to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines and hepatitis C drugs. Our team has strong international and national collaboration ties, including the LSE, the University of Michigan, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Latin America's largest biomedical research institute. Together, we will produce publications to high-impact journals, train undergraduate and graduate students in different dimensions of health industry policy, and produce evidence that can shape health policy and pathways to respond to future public health crises. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DA FONSECA, ELIZE MASSARD; NACHLIS, HERSCHEL S.; THOMSON, KYLE; JARMAN, HOLLY. Borrowing regulatory capacity in middle-income countries during public health crises: Brazil, regulatory reliance, and the politics of COVD-19 vaccine regulation. SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE, v. 365, p. 9-pg., 2024-12-19. (21/06202-0)

DA FONSECA, ELIZE MASSARD; SHADLEN, KENNETH C.; ACHCAR, HELENA DE MORAES. Vaccine technology transfer in a global health crisis: Actors, capabilities, and institutions. RESEARCH POLICY, v. 52, n. 4, p. 10-pg., 2023-02-08. (22/07849-0, 21/06202-0, 20/05230-8)

FLYNN, MATTHEW B.; DA FONSECA, ELIZE MASSARD. Dependency, Capacity, and Agency: Austerity and Leadership Failures in Brazil's Homegrown COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts. STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, v. 58, n. 3, p. 27-pg., 2023-11-08. (21/06202-0)

RICH, JESSICA A. J.; DA FONSECA, ELIZE MASSARD; BOWER, LIAM. What Makes Bureaucracies Politically Resilient? Evidence from Brazil's Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign. COMPARATIVE POLITICS, v. 57, n. 1, p. 24-pg., 2024-10-01. (21/06202-0)