Purpose of consultancy

To contribute to data mining, cleaning and analysis to inform the development of WHO’s pre-clinical pipeline reviews.

Background

Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health threat, acknowledged through the endorsement of the Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by the World Health Assembly (resolution WHA68.7) on May 2015, the Political Declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on AMR in September 2017 as well as the report of the UN Interagency Coordination Group (IACG) on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Objective five of the Global Action Plan is to develop the economic case for sustainable investment that takes account of the needs of all countries and increases investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines, and other interventions. In response, in September 2017, WHO released the first bacterial priority pathogens list to prioritize R&D efforts and is currently revising the list. Coupled with this list, the WHO has undertaken an analysis of the clinical antibacterial pipeline on an annual basis and added in 2019 an annual review of the pre-clinical antibacterial pipeline and has also reviewd the pipeline of bacterial vaccines in 2022 and is looking to expand the range of pipelines to include the revision of the antifungal candidates under development.

The pipeline analyses aim to assess the robustness of the clinical and pre-clinical pipeline overtime against the bacterial priority pathogens to drive R&D efforts of new therapeutics. To facilitate the pre-clinical pipeline analysese, this consultancy is to hire a short-term pre-clinical R&D expert to support data mining, cleaning and analyses and support the final report writing and a scientific publication on agents in pre-clinical development. The data will be used for WHO advocacy, dissemination and implementation activities and will be used also to feed the WHO Global Observatory on Health Research and Development (R&D) and the Global AMR R&D Hub, Berlin, Germany.

Deliverables

Preclinical antifungal pipeline review.

• Deliverable 1: Contribute to the development of WHO pre-clinical pipeline reviews of antifungal agents targeting the WHO fungal priority pathogens list (WHO FPPL):
  • Compile product information collected through a WHO data call, desk review and any additional sources into an Excel file. This should include product name, developer, stage (i.e., lead optimization, pre-clinical candidate, Investigational New Drug/Clinical Trial Application-enabling studies), mechanism of action, expected activity against the WHO bacterial priority pathogens list as well as the funder/s for each product.
  • Perform a desk review study to supplement the data submitted by developers.
  • Clean, proofread, and verify all data for submission and final validation by the WHO R&D Advisory Group.
  • Communicate with project partners to verify data quality and complement data gaps in close collaboration with the WHO IRC team.
  • Submit all data, including verified data set in Excel as well as supporting documents/articles and references, to WHO to be stored for future reference and pipeline report iterations.
    Expected by: March 2024
• Deliverable 2: Contribute to presenting the pre-clinical data collected and the analyses performed, and discussing potential outstanding issues.
  • Develop a power-point presentation with the results of the pre-clinical antifungal pipeline review.
  • Identify potential areas for discussion.
  • Participate in preparatory pre-meeting calls with the AG Chair and present data in the AG meeting.
    Expected by: April 2024
• Deliverable 3: Contribute to drafting sections of the antifungal pipeline report focused on antifungal agents in pre-clinical development. Draft sections on methodology, pre-clinical traditional and non-traditional agents, discussion and conclusion, with input from WHO IRC staff and consultants.
  Expected by: May 2024

Preclinical antibacterial pipeline review.

• Deliverable 4: Contribute to the development of WHO pre-clinical pipeline reviews of antibiotics and antibacterials targeting the WHO bacterial priority pathogens list (WHO BPPL):
  • Compile product information collected through a WHO data call, desk review and any additional sources into an Excel file. This should include product name, developer, stage (i.e., lead optimization, pre-clinical candidate, Investigational New Drug/Clinical Trial Application-enabling studies), mechanism of action, expected activity against the WHO bacterial priority pathogens list as well as the funder/s for each product.
  • Perform a desk review study to supplement the data submitted by developers.
  • Clean, proofread, and verify all data for submission and final validation by the WHO R&D Advisory Group.
  • Communicate with project partners to verify data quality and complement data gaps in close collaboration with the WHO IRC team.
  • Submit all data, including verified data set in Excel as well as supporting documents/articles and references, to WHO to be stored for future reference and pipeline report iterations.
    Expected by: June 2024
• Deliverable 5: Contribute to presenting the pre-clinical data collected and the analyses performed, and discussing potential outstanding issues. Develop a power-point presentation with the results of the antibacterial pre-clinical pipeline review. Identify potential areas for discussion. Participate in preparatory pre-meeting calls with the AG Chair and present data in the AG meeting.
  Expected by: July 2024
• Deliverable 6: Contribute to drafting sections of the antibacterial pipeline report focused on antibacterial agents in pre-clinical development. Draft sections on methodology, pre-clinical traditional and non-traditional agents, discussion and conclusion, with input from WHO IRC staff and consultants.
  Expected by: September 2024
• Deliverable 7: Draft a scientific article on antifungal agents in pre-clinical development based on the above analyses, for submission to relevant peer-reviewed journals/periodicals.
  Expected by: October 2024

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:

Essential:

• Advanced degree (Ph.D) in pharmacology, immune pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, biomedical sciences, microbiology or another relevant area specific to antimicrobial resistance and infectious disease.

Experience

Essential:

• Over 10 years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry developing infectious disease treatments.
• Experience in the drug development process for infectious disease treatments, particularly pre-clinical research.
• Experience in planning and executing pre-clinical and clinical development project plans.

Desirable:

• Experience conducting R&D pipeline reviews for WHO.
• Experience working for the UN in an international context.
• Drug development experience that spans early target identification and validation through to regulatory submissions.

Skills:

• Expert knowledge of AMR, infectious diseases research, and drug development.
• Knowledge of key stakeholders working in drug development for infectious disease treatments.
• Proven skills in scientific writing.
• Ability to work independently and in a team.
• Ability to work under pressure with conflicting priorities.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Computer literacy (Microsoft office including Excel, zoom, etc.).

Languages required:

Essential:

Expert knowledge of English.

Location

Off site: Home-based.

Travel

The consultant is expected to travel.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):

Remuneration:

Band level C – USD 10,000 – 12,500 per month.

Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited):

N/A

Expected duration of contract:

11 months part-time at 33%. Remuneration will be pro-rated accordingly.

Additional Information

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
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• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
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• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the Consultant.
• WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
• Consultants working in Switzerland must register with the applicable Swiss cantonal tax authorities and social security authorities, within the prescribed timeframes (Guidelines issued by the Swiss Mission are available at: https://www.eda.admin.ch/missions/mission-onu-geneve/en/home/manual-regime-privileges-and-immunities/introduction/Manuel-personnes-sans-privileges-et-immunites-carte-H/Non fonctionnaires et stagiaires.html