Globally, approximately 287,000 women die every year from pregnancy-related conditions and complications, with most of these deaths occurring in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Although investment in global maternal health has increased in the past 30 years, research and development (R&D) of new products has been a neglected area.
Our objective is to define and implement the pathways for accelerating development and introduction of innovative products for pregnancy-specific conditions through global partnerships.
2022–2025.
The Accelerating Innovation for Mothers (AIM) project is a collaborative partnership between Burnet Institute, Concept Foundation and Policy Cures Research. It was initiated to catalyse the development of new medicines for obstetric conditions.
In the first phase of the AIM project (AIM 1.0) we investigated the current landscape and challenges for pregnancy-specific medicine development, conducted a comprehensive maternal medicines pipeline analysis, and developed four new target product profiles for new medicines to prevent and treat preeclampsia and preterm birth/labour.
Two research papers released in 2022 describe the development of the first ever target product profiles for maternal medicines, for preterm birth/labour and pre-eclampsia. An additional three research papers released in 2022 describe the landscape of medicines development over the last 20 years, for pre-eclampsia, postpartum haemorrhage and fetal growth restriction.
In AIM 2.0 we will expand our previous work to include diagnostic tests and devices, and medicines for additional maternal conditions. Burnet Institute will lead two primary objectives that will help us to achieve our goal within the timeframe of the project.
Improve coordination and foster an enabling environment is built on the understanding that collaboration among different stakeholders is optimal to ensure long- awaited innovations for pregnant women are realised. We will consolidate a transparent and efficient research collaboration network. This will foster an enabling environment through which new findings and innovations can be disseminated to peers in the maternal health field and to the public. Through this network, we will con1nue to raise awareness of the need for, inspire, and guide new innova1ons for maternal and pregnancy related problems and other topics related to our work. An additional component of this collaborative network will be to establish and strengthen the capacity of an LMIC-based research network to conduct regulatory trials.
Research prioritization to action will streamline and accelerate the identification of highest priority candidates and ensure that necessary clinical research ac1vi1es can commence promptly. An updated, integrated database of pipeline candidates will be maintained and expanded to include new conditions and products. Systematic and scoping reviews will be conducted on high priority candidates and conditions. New TPPs will be developed for maternal microbiome, and tests for preeclampsia and preterm birth.
By the end of this project, multiple high-priority candidate medicines will be ready for “next- phase” clinical trials consistent with regulatory standards, to be conducted within a newly established LMIC trial network.
As part of the Accelerating Innovation for Mothers (AIM) project, the student will play a crucial role in developing and refining target product profiles (TPPs) for new health products aimed at improving maternal health outcomes.
This opportunity focuses on addressing the urgent need for innovative solutions to reduce maternal mortality and severe morbidity globally. The student will work on various initiatives, including:
This project will provide students with valuable experience in global maternal and perinatal health, evidence synthesis, and stakeholder consultation, along with opportunities for scientific publication.
We're working to support the development of innovative medical products for pre-eclampsia.
Burnet Institute and Concept Foundation have partnered to develop a new Target Product Profile (TPP) for maternal microbiome interventions, aiming to improve undernutrition and related maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes.
The market for ultrasound devices is rapidly expanding, particularly as technological advances allow for smaller, cheaper, and more portable devices to be developed.
We developed a document that describes the minimum and ideal characteristics of health products that measure blood loss after vaginal births.
This project will help people design and develop effective and affordable tools that more accurately predict pre-eclampsia in pregnant people.
We're working on a document that describes the minimum and ideal characteristics of tools that measure blood loss during c-sections.
We've developed a document that describes characteristics of health products that could predict preterm birth.
We're working on 2 target product profiles to support novel medicines for preventing and managing preterm birth.
BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Annie R.A. McDougall, Lily Aboud, Joshua P. Vogel
BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Shao Lim, Annie R.A. McDougall, Joshua P. Vogel, Shao Lim, Annie R.A. McDougall, Joshua P. Vogel
BMC Medicine
Annie R.A. McDougall
PLOS Global Public Health
Annie R.A. McDougall, Joshua P. Vogel
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics
Annie R.A. McDougall, Joshua P. Vogel
Gates Foundation