IAVI

Sara Mayti/IAVI

Margaret (Margie) McGlynn is a biopharmaceutical executive with significant experience in the vaccine and antiretroviral markets. She worked for Merck for 26 years, last serving as President, Global Vaccines and Anti-Infectives. In that capacity, Margie was responsible for a US$7 billion portfolio of products and oversaw the launch of several vaccines, including Merck’s rotavirus vaccine, and Gardasil, the first vaccine to prevent infection by several strains of the human papillomavirus, a common cause of cervical cancer. Margie played a prominent role in the Merck’s global health initiatives and drug and vaccine access programs. She was involved in the provision of Merck’s HIV drugs Stocrin and Crixivan at cost to developing countries, beginning in 2000. She also helped secure approval from Merck to launch, in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership in Botswana, and to extend that program into its second phase in 2010. Margie has served on the board and executive committee of the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to bringing life-saving vaccines against common infectious diseases to people across the developing world. While at Merck, she also played a key role in establishing the Hilleman Laboratories, a partnership between Merck and the Wellcome Trust that is headquartered in New Delhi, India, and focuses on the discovery and development of new vaccines for the developing world.

Margie is available to comment on the following issues:

• IAVI’s mission, strategic direction and core principles 
• IAVI’s role in the global search for an AIDS vaccine 
• The need for an AIDS vaccine as part of a comprehensive response to the AIDS pandemic 
• The role of product development partnerships (PDPs) like IAVI in global health initiatives
• The importance of scientific collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors to address global health challenges
• Challenges of vaccine access and distribution in developing countries 
• The importance of strengthening scientific and technological capacity in the developing world 
• Innovative financing mechanisms for global health 
• Addressing funding gaps in the vaccine research continuum