On January 19, Porter Novelli had the honor of hosting a vaccine discussion forum in conjunction with the New York City Health Business Leaders. Nearly 100 people attended “Vaccine Development: the Business Case and the Public Health Imperative,” in our New York office and I had the pleasure of moderating a distinguished panel of speakers:
- Gus Birkhead, M.D., MPH – Deputy Commissioner, NY State Dept of Health
- Douglass Given, M.D., Ph.D., MBA – Chairman of Vivaldi Biosciences (a new start-up vaccine company incubated in NYC) and Partner, Bay City Capital
- John Grabenstein, RPh, Ph.D. – Senior Medical Director for Adult Vaccines, Merck Vaccines
- Peter Paradiso, Ph.D. – Vice President, New Business and Scientific Affairs, Pfizer Vaccines
- Jane Zucker, M.D., MSc – Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Immunization of New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Dr. Zucker kicked off the panel discussion, explaining the large impact vaccines have had on public health. “Vaccines save lives and medical costs … they have been the greatest public health achievement in the past century,” she said. This set the stage for all panelists to have a lively discussion centered around the business case for vaccines and alignment with the public health imperative. We also explored the complex issues of vaccine investment and development, including research, legal and regulatory challenges. These challenges were considered in the context of important societal and public health perspectives.
An exciting discussion took place during the Q and A and after the event. In fact, many guests approached me to let me know how much they loved the forum. I was amazed by the level of enthusiasm from our guests and the panelists. In the end, the New York City Health Business Leader’s co-founders agreed our team pulled off the best event they’ve ever had!