UNICEF Supply Division is looking for a dedicated Zika Vaccine Markets Consultant (home based) to support our Markets, Finance & Strategic Data Unit.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy Title: Zika Vaccine Markets Consultant

 

LOCATION/DURATION:

Duration: 100 days over 6 month period

Location: Home based

Travel: Paid for by UNICEF. Expect ~2 trips to Copenhagen, 1 trip to Washington DC, 1-2 trip to Geneva

Start Date: May 2017

Reporting to: Senior Advisor, MFSDU, UNICEF Supply Division, New York.

 

BACKGROUND:

In 2015, UNICEF, in collaboration with governments and partners, procured a record $3.428 billion in supplies and services for children, including $1.755 billion of supplies procured on behalf of 102 governments. Much of UNICEF Supply Division's (SD) work focuses on working with suppliers and a range of partners to ensure the availability of life-saving products. SD's work in product innovation enables the development of new products or the improvement of existing ones, hereby ensuring availability of fit for purpose and value for money products that can benefit children around the world.

On February 1, 2016, WHO declared the ZIKA virus (ZIKV) a public health emergency. By March 9, 2016, 31 countries and territories in the Americas had reported local transmission of the virus. ZIKA, a virus transmitted through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito, was first identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania. Outbreaks of ZIKA have since been reported in Africa, the Americas, and Asia and the Pacific.

According to the WHO, the spread of the virus remains a major public health and child rights concern. ZIKV is one of the diseases included in UNICEF's Health Emergency Preparedness Initiative (HEPI). Through HEPI, UNICEF seeks to support national governments' multi-sectoral health emergency response including facilitating appropriate product innovation to meet the needs of future health emergencies. As such, UNICEF is engaged in efforts to enable development of both diagnostics and vaccines to address future health emergencies.

UNICEF Supply Division hosted an industry consultation in Copenhagen in May 2016 and convened partners and diagnostics and vaccine manufacturers to encourage the acceleration of research and development (R&D) and to advance the commercial environment to address gaps in both ZIKV vaccine and rapid/ point of care diagnostics. In February 2017, after a consultation process, WHO and UNICEF updated the previous published Target Product Profiles (TPPs) defining the desired characteristics of vaccines that should protect against congenital Zika syndrome and RDTs/POC to diagnose ZIKV. For ZIKV RDT/POC, UNICEF has launched a tender seeking to pull through the development of novel diagnostic products.

UNICEF SD now requires an experienced consultant with a strong understanding of vaccine markets, R&D financing and push/pull mechanisms to support efforts to direct product innovation of appropriate ZIKV vaccines. The consultant will work extremely closely with experts from the SD's Markets, Financing and Strategic Data Unit (MFSDU), the Vaccine Centre (VC), and the Innovation Unit (IU) as well as engaging with external collaborators, including WHO, PAHO and BARDA.

OBJECTIVE:

Under the supervision of the Senior Advisor, Markets, Finance & Strategic Data Unit with additional input from the Chief, Vaccine Centre, the main purpose of this consultancy is to create series of report to advise how UNICEF could use its core capabilities including deployment of special contracting and other pull mechanisms to accelerate development, production scale and access of appropriate ZIKV vaccine products. (It is understood that one possible scenario could include not engaging at all in the market.) In addition, it is intended that the consultancy would provide broader guidance on development of pull mechanisms to address vaccine R&D for other health emergencies.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT:

UNICEF SD now requires an experienced consultant with a strong understanding of vaccine markets, R&D financing and push/pull mechanisms to support efforts to direct product innovation of appropriate ZIKV vaccines. The consultant will work extremely closely with experts from the SD's Markets, Financing and Strategic Data Unit (MFSDU), the Vaccine Centre (VC), and the Innovation Unit (IU) as well as engaging with external collaborators, including WHO, PAHO and BARDA.

 

KEY DELIVERABLES:

1. Zika Vaccine pipeline and R&D funding report
   1. Create overview of vaccine candidates in the pipeline, including how each vaccine candidate might address specific target populations and/or geographic market segments.
   2. Outline the known/expected clinical trials plans for registration etc. and describe the potential gaps in expected pipeline data that could limit access or use of future Zika vaccine candidates in programme countries particularly outside the Americas / Latin American and Caribbean region.
   3. Maps financial investments both private and public in the development of Zika vaccines and the main related platform technologies that are known/expected to contribute to Zika vaccine development.
   4. Delineate any specific conditions of investments (including Intellectual Property rights, access agreements) and identify potential gaps, challenges and opportunities from the perspective of push/pull mechanisms. 

2. UNICEF programmatic application of Zika vaccines report

1. Map out the current range of epidemiological trajectories for ZIKV (including in different scenarios of global vs local epidemics, naive versus previously exposed individuals, and interactions with other flaviviruses etc.).
2. Based on the epidemiological projections/hypotheses, as well as the current WHO/UNICEF TPP for Zika vaccines and the R&D pipeline, outline potential scenarios of use of future Zika vaccines in UNICEF programme countries.
3. Quantify in simple terms the potential demand for Zika vaccines under these scenarios (including demand for necessary registration trials, or other pre/post licensure studies, for stockpiling, in the case of an epidemic within UNICEF programme countries, for routine use, etc.)

 

3. Procurement and/or financial intervention report (including for Zika vaccines)

1. Outline a basic decision matrix of different procurement and/or financial interventions to ameliorate access, drive development and scale of different innovative health products (e.g. vaccines, treatment and diagnostics) based on HEPI priorities and UNICEF core capabilities/comparative advantage.
2. Suggest further work to be undertaken by UNICEF to specify the strategy for driving development and scale of relevant HEPI products.
3. Outline possible procurement and/or financial interventions that UNICEF could deploy to address any needs for Zika vaccines (including pros and cons of each). It is essential that this is based on prior reports and how UNICEF can leverage its core competencies to drive programmatic goals of relevance to UNICEF.
4. Outline how each possible intervention for a Zika vaccine links to established interventions by other players/partners in the Zika vaccine R&D realm (e.g. BARDA, Wellcome Trust, BMGF).
5. Based on the outline of possible UNICEF unmet programmatic needs as well as on the outline of possible interventions leveraging UNICEF core capabilities, recommend which possible interventions could be undertaken (if any).
6. To the degree possible serve as an expert in relevant decision making processes particularly in relation to Zika vaccine development

4. UNICEF fundraising paper and dialogue

1. Map out possible donors for the defined Zika vaccine procurement/financing intervention(s).
2. Assist in the dialogue with these donors as needed, including participating in possible meetings.
3. Assist in dialogue with other key stakeholders to the intervention strategy, such as WHO, PAHO, BARDA, CEPI etc.
4. If time allows, assist in dialogue with donors on UNICEF interventions on health emergency products beyond Zika vaccines to align on strategic thinking for future possible funding.

5. Support the creation of UNICEF & USAID white paper on Zika Diagnostic and ARIDA

1. Review paper outline of paper and provide recommendation for how it is to be improved.
2. Input to strategy for dissemination, including publication strategy.
3. Review and edit paper.

 

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

The successful candidate shall have:

• Minimum 10 years professional and relevant work experience in areas of markets, and R&D financing with focus on public health and infectious diseases, and in particular vaccine policy.
• Master Degree in Public Health, Health Economics, Microbiology, Engineering or another relevant discipline
• Knowledge and experience in design of market incentive schemes to drive R&D, and the pros and cons of different models.
• Academic expertise, including publications within areas relevant to this project.
• Knowledge of the environment UNICEF operates, particularly with respect to vaccines and understanding of the constraints of working in difficult geographical locations.

Competencies:

The successful candidate is expected to demonstrate the following competencies that are considered to be necessary to this consultancy:

 Core Competencies

• Excellent communicator of verbal and written concepts to an international audiences.
• Ability to quickly understand instructions, to proactively seek clarification when needed.
• Able to work well in a team environment.

Functional Competencies

• Able to work independently and problem solving oriented.
• Able to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships.
• Demonstrated communication and relationship building skills.
• Proven capacity to work with and lead collaborative teams across different locations and with different technical skills.

Technical Knowledge  

• Proven experience in data and information analysis (Experience with vaccine demand forecasting an asset).
• Experience in developing innovative financing /pull mechanisms.
• Knowledge of application of vaccines in developing regions.
• Knowledge of research and development life cycle for vaccines (Knowledge of vaccine manufacturing/production would be an asset).
• Knowledge of standard MS Office applications (MS Project, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Languages:

Fluency in written and spoken English is essential

 

UNICEF CORE VALUES

Diversity and Inclusion

Treats all people with dignity and respect; shows respect and sensitivity towards gender, cultural and religious differences; challenges prejudice, biases and intolerance in the workplace; encourages diversity wherever possible.

Integrity

Maintains high ethical standards; takes clear ethical stands; keeps promises; immediately addresses untrustworthy or dishonest behaviour; resists pressure in decision-making from internal and external sources; does not abuse power or authority.

Commitment

Demonstrates commitment to UNICEF's mission and to the wider UN system; demonstrates the values of UNICEF in daily activities and behaviours; seeks out new challenges, assignments and responsibilities; promotes UNICEF's cause.

 

EVALUATION PROCESS:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application.
2. Financial quote at a daily rate in US Dollars. Financial quote should be inclusive of service fees, and living expenses (if consultancy is not home-based).       Costs for accommodation, meals and incidentals shall not exceed applicable daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rates, as promulgated by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).
3. CV.
4. Examples of previous, relevant work.
5. Proposed methodology/approach to managing the project.
6. At least 2 references.

Applications are to be submitted by 11 April, 2017 17.00 CET. Please indicate your availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.

UNICEF considers best value for money as a criteria for evaluating potential candidates. As a general principle, the fees payable to a consultant or individual contractor follow the "best value for money" principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee. Please note that consultants and individual contractors are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance.

Successful applicants will be invited to a telephone interview and will be evaluated by the following criteria:

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION    (max. 80 points)	Weighted scoring
Overall Response (20 points)
Understanding of tasks, objectives and completeness and coherence of response	10
Overall match between the ToR requirements	10
Technical Capacity (50 points)
Professional and relevant work experience in areas of markets, and R&D financing with focus on public health and infectious diseases, and in particular vaccine policy.	25
Experience in development of innovative finance mechanisms	20
Experience in market demand and forecasting	10
Knowledge of the environment UNICEF operates, and understanding of the constraints of working in difficult geographical locations.	5
TECHNICAL QUALIFICATION - Total Points	80
FINANCIAL PROPOSAL     (max. 20 points)
Daily Rate
Price for 100 day assignment
Other costs
Total value of consultancy
FINANCIAL PROPOSAL - Weight Combined Score
TOTAL SCORE (out of 100 points)