Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF)

Summary

GHIF is an impact investment fund which finances high potential impact medical R&D opportunities. In practice this means medical innovations that target diseases of the developing world. Potential losses to investors are underwritten by the Gates Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.1

Notes

Analysis

Scope: GHIF is disease neutral, and only funds late stage development.

Access: GHIF has no bearing on the price or distribution of drugs.

Innovation: Incentives are linked to potential impact, and so are partially linked to health impact itself.

Efficiency: GHIF is a market-based funding mechanism, in that it is a decentralised selection procedure which is influenced by profitability on the market.

Governability: GHIF does not require a particularly complex governance structure. It is subject to the problem of selection.

Political Feasibility: GHIF is supported by a range of governments and funders, and has the potential to attract funding that would otherwise not have been available.

Relation to other proposals

GHIF is an impact investment fund which targets medical R&D. We have not examined other examples of such a funding mechanism.

Political strategy

Sources

GHIF website: admin. “Global Health Investment Fund.” Accessed July 10, 2017. http://www.ghif.com/.


  1. admin, “Global Health Investment Fund.” [return]