Commentary: Global Health

Will your business be the next one to join the regions fastest-growing sector?

Coffee, airplanes, apples and software may dominate the economy in Washington state, but we are witnessing the astonishingly rapid formation of a large and growing new sector focused on global health. In this space, two seemingly different companies are finding distinct and attractive market opportunities
that also are socially meaningful. MSR and Kineta have made strategic decisions to direct some focus to growing markets in the developing world and the improvement in global health. We are not alone.

Nurtured by pioneering global-health institutions and fueled by the interest of students and professionals looking for socially meaningful jobs, global health is becoming one of the fastest-growing sectors in our states economy.

The recent Washington Global Health Landscape Study from the Washington Global Health Alliance reported that global health activity contributes $5.8 billion to Washington states economy along with 2,000 new jobs between 2009 and 2013, for a total of nearly 13,000. Indirectly, global health supports an additional 32,200 jobs in our state. One hundred and sixty eight nonprofits, businesses, research institutes and colleges and universities involved with global health are now situated here and working in 151 countries.

The broader business community and lawmakers would be well served to appreciate the strength of this rising sector of our economy and find creative ways to support its continued growth.

How did we achieve this critical mass? Each of us has a unique story. Mountain Safety Research, or MSR, a longtime Seattle outdoor gear brand, began working in the global health space after a company-wide response to the 2003 tsunami in Southeast Asia. MSR realized that its gear, designed to provide shelter, clean water and fire for cooking in especially challenging environments, could make a lasting impact on disaster victims in low-resource settings. MSR connected with PATH, a Seattle organization that made the convincing argument there was a need for private-sector solutions to meeting basic human needs.

Through the states Life Sciences Discovery Fund and the Washington Global Health Alliance networks, PATH and the MSR team developed their first commercial global health product, the SE200 Community Chlorine Maker. In May, this product launched the MSR Global Health Division. It happened because a diverse set of global health partners, funders and nonprofits in Seattle and Washington state came together to support and guide them into the global health market.

Kineta has a similar vision and just as many diverse collaborators. Founders of the Seattle company set out in 2008 to build a new kind of biotech with an innovative pipeline. The goal was to apply core expertise in immunology and translational drug development to diseases with major patient needs. Creating a more efficient business model was also a high priority, one that made room for granting agencies and philanthropic foundations alongside investors and strategic business partners. In addition to autoimmune diseases and pain relief, Kineta chose to work on high-need viral diseases. The infectious disease marketplace presented just the right combination of opportunity and challenge the scientific and business teams sought.

Kineta is advancing antivirals with potential to treat dozens of diseases both common threats such as influenza and global threats such as dengue virus, Lassa fever and Ebola. There is a serious need for this sort of drug, as the world saw last year with the devastating outbreak of Ebola, which went on to infect Americans here at home.

The Washington Global Health Alliance has done excellent work mapping the deep expertise we now have in our state and explaining why our leaders should champion and support its growth. More entrepreneurs, students and investors should consider participating in global health to bolster its positive influence. If an outdoor gear brand and a biotech company can see the benefit of being part of the global health sector, maybe its time your company considered whether working in global health is the next right move.

Laura Mclaughlin is director of the Global Health Division at Mountain Safety Research, a unit of Cascade Designs Inc.
Charles Magness is president and CEO of Kineta Inc.