Facilitating Collaborative Research in Drug Development and Health Policy
The Forum, founded in 1997, is a public/private partnership addressing cutting edge science and policy issues through a process of stakeholder engagement and deliberation. Its impetus was a request from Vice President Al Gore to convene all stakeholder groups to discuss and discover opportunities for cross-sector dialogue and collaboration at a time when newly approved antiretrovirals -- and a healthy new drug pipeline -- allowed the transition of HIV-infection from a death-and-dying to a chronic disease model.
The hallmark of the Forum is its unique structure – stakeholder partners (patients/patient advocates, academia, governmental agencies, industry, insurers, professional societies and other relevant entities) co-own the Forum collectively, creating a neutral and independent space for ongoing, issue-specific deliberation in which all stakeholders have an equal voice.
Since its inception, the scope of the Forum’s work increased to include viral hepatitis in the landmark National Summit on testing and linkage to care series, and development of drugs for hepatitis C (HCV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. The Forum process has changed the way clinical trials are conducted; facilitated broader and fairer access to trials and expanded access programs; accelerated the delivery of new drugs for HIV and HCV; and established the framework for regulatory discussions in HIV cure research.
The Forum’s contribution to drug development – facilitated through informal yet structured interactions between US and European regulatory agencies, academic experts, patient community, and the pharmaceutical/biotech industry results in reduced uncertainty regarding the regulatory pathway for new therapeutic strategies and new disease areas. The independent and neutral space created by these interactions allows for the co-evolution of science and regulatory guidance, providing an opportunity to effect directional change.
The Forum is the sponsor of the John G. Bartlett Award for Catalyzing Clinical Research to Improve Global Health, first awarded to Dr. Jeffrey Murray in June 2021.
The Forum also sponsors the C. Everett Koop Public Health Leadership Award, first awarded to Dr. C. Everett Koop in November 2010.
Based in Washington, DC, operating under the auspices of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, the Forum offers unique educational and training opportunities through its interns/fellows program and the Forum-sponsored course on FDA and Drug Development taught on the Berkeley campus.
Read more about The Forum's Operating Principles and Working Process.
