REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
RFP No. TGF-15-002
THEMATIC REVIEW ON MARKET-SHAPING
Issue Date: 30 January 2015
RFP Closing Date: 23 February 2015
RFP Closing Time: 5:00pm Geneva time
The Global Fund invites potential suppliers to submit proposals to review the
implementation of the Global Fund’s market-shaping strategy.
The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to select a supplier offering the best value
to the Global Fund in terms of both technical and cost factors.
The services to be provided are fully described in the Statement of Work in Attachment A.
The Global Fund will evaluate all proposals received in response to this RFP in accordance
with the Evaluation Criteria in Attachment B.
The Global Fund wishes to stress that an objective of this process is to provide a rigorous and
comprehensive review within the confines of a competitive commercial environment.
Therefore, we encourage the proposals to provide their best offer and to propose innovative
methods, outlining their advantages and disadvantages, to the Global Fund.
This RFP shall not be construed as a contract or a commitment of any kind. This RFP in no
way obligates the Global Fund to award a contract, nor does it commit the Global Fund to
pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the proposal(s).
The Global Fund Standard Terms and Conditions form an integral part of this RFP and
will be included in any contract resulting from this solicitation. Submitting a proposal in
response to this RFP constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions, found at this link on
the Global Fund website: http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/business/
To be eligible as a supplier with the Global Fund, any organization or individual must comply
with the Policy on Ethics and Conflicts of Interest for Global Fund Institutions
and the Supplier Code of Conduct. Both are located on the Global Fund website at the
following link: http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/library/documents/
Please submit your proposal in accordance with the instructions given below, no later than
the closing date and time, by email to:

Solicitation@theglobalfund.org, and

Orion Yeandel at: orion.yeandel@theglobalfund.org
ATTACHMENT A: STATEMENT OF WORK
I. BACKGROUND
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (“the Global Fund”) was
established in January 2002 as a financial instrument, complementary to existing
programmes addressing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The purpose of the Global
Fund is to attract, manage and disburse additional resources through a new public-private
partnership that will make a sustainable and significant contribution to the reduction of
infections, illness and death, thereby mitigating the impact caused by HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis and malaria in countries in need, and contributing to poverty reduction as part
of the Millennium Development Goals.
The Global Fund bases its work on programmes that reflect national ownership and respect
country partnership-led formulation and implementation processes. The Global Fund
promotes partnerships among all relevant players within the country and across all sectors of
society. It builds on existing coordination mechanisms, and promotes new and innovative
partnerships. In addition, the Global Fund strengthens and reflects high-level, sustainable
political involvement and commitment in making allocations of its resources.
The Global Fund supports existing and new innovative programmes both within and outside
the health sector that promote public, private and nongovernmental efforts for scaling up the
prevention, treatment, care and support to those that are directly affected.
The Global Fund is a non-profit foundation under Swiss Law and its headquarters are based
in Geneva, Switzerland. The Fund is accountable to its Board, the highest decision making
body, which consists of representatives of donors, recipient countries, civil society, the
private sector and non-governmental organizations as well as other stakeholders from a
broad range of interest groups and communities, including multi-lateral organizations.
The Global Fund's Secretariat is responsible for day-to-day operations, including mobilizing
resources from the public and private sectors, managing grants, providing financial, legal
and administrative support, and reporting information on the Global Fund's activities to the
Board and the public.
About 600 employees representing more than 100 nationalities work at the Secretariat's
headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Global Fund’s influence on the market for pharmaceuticals
Shaping the market for ACTs
In 2004, the Global Fund actively shaped a market. The result was accelerated access to
essential treatment for hundreds of millions of people. Working closely with the World
Health Organization (WHO), the Global Fund facilitated countries to rapidly switch
funding and policies from suboptimal therapies to the highly effective artemisinin-based
combination therapies (ACTs). By the end of the year, 21 additional African countries
were using ACTs and all but 2 countries were using the drugs by 2007. Distribution of the
drugs also leapt from less than 1 million in 2003, to 190 million from 2004-2007 - one of
the largest and fastest scale-ups of a pharmaceutical product ever. Competition in the
market increased – from one quality-assured supplier in 2004 to seven in 2010 – and the
price of the drug fell more than 50 percent over 5 years, enabling even greater scale-up.
Source: The Global Fund (2011): Market-shaping Strategy
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The Global Fund is a major funder in the health sector and has a huge potential role to shape
the market for pharmaceuticals and health commodities. The introduction of ACTs is just
one example how the Global Fund has leveraged its purchasing power successfully. In recent
years, the Global Fund has continuously worked towards maximizing its influence:
1) In 2007, the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
determined that the organization should play a greater role in influencing the market
dynamics of the health products that it finances and created the Voluntary Pooled
Procurement (VPP) mechanism, the Price and Quality Reporting (PQR)
mechanisms. Throughout the years, the Board has also established solid quality
assurance policies for pharmaceutical and diagnostic products that are updated from
time to time to ensure that health products procured with grant funds are meeting
internationally agreed quality norms and standards.
2) At its 23rd meeting in 2011, the Global Fund Board approved a market-shaping
strategy. The market-shaping strategy builds on the Global Fund‘s work to date and its
core organizational strategy and principles to make the organization an active “market
shaper”. Under this strategy, the Global Fund set specific objectives for the
characteristics of and outcomes from (i.e., price, quality, availability, and product design)
selected product markets and implemented relevant interventions that will leverage its
grant investments to achieve the strategy objectives, which were defined as:
1. Accelerate the introduction and maturation of new, more cost-effective products;
2. Ensure implementers procure the most cost-effective, WHO-recommended health
products or regimens that meet the Global Fund quality assurance policies;
3. Strengthen countries’ capacity to implement strategic procurement practices; and
4. Ensure the continued availability, affordability, and innovation of products, including
those for which there are not currently sustainable market conditions.
3) More recently in 2014, the Global Fund has stepped up its sourcing and procurement
strategy through a Procurement 4 Impact (P4i) transformation and has developed
product specific strategies, based on market; supplier; risks and opportunity analysis.
As one of the largest purchasers for the three diseases, the Global Fund has shaped market
structures through various initiatives such as an increased number of qualified producers;
supporting competitive markets, bulk purchasing and improved better forecasting. The price
of commodities is also a critical factor in ensuring financial sustainability when countries
gradually transition from Global Fund to domestic financed programs.
II. PURPOSE OF THE THEMATIC REVIEW
The Global Fund’s Technical Evaluation Reference Group (TERG) is responsible for ensuring
independent evaluation of the Global Fund business model, investments and impact. The
TERG is an external advisory body to the Global Fund and reports to the Board’s Strategy,
Investment and Impact Committee (SIIC).
In 2015, the TERG will commission an independent appraisal of progress towards the
commitments reflected in the Global Fund Strategy (2012 – 2016), termed the Strategic
Review 2015. Under the umbrella of the Strategic Review 2015, the TERG has planned to
commission a number of additional thematic reviews, which are meant to examine specific
topics in depth, such as the Global Fund’s role in shaping the market for pharmaceuticals
and health commodities.
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III. THEMATIC REVIEW OBJECTIVE
The objective of this thematic review is to draw lessons learnt on the Global Fund’s role in
shaping the market of specific commodities related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The timeframe for the evaluation spans the initial period of introduction of the marketshaping strategy in 2011 to the later period of the implementation of the Procurement 4
impact initiative in 2013/2014.
IV. EVALUATION QUESTIONS
The evaluation questions are based on the objectives of the market-shaping strategy:
1. To what extent has the Global Fund leveraged its purchasing power to ensure that
implementers procure the most cost-effective, WHO-recommended health products or
regimens that meet the Global Fund quality assurance policies;
2. To what extent has the Global Fund accelerated the introduction and maturation of new,
more cost-effective products for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the three
diseases?
3. To what extent has the Global Fund ensured the continued availability, affordability, and
innovation of products, including those for which there are not currently sustainable
market conditions?
V. PROPOSED APPROACH
To strengthen the quality of the thematic review, it should be conducted using a variety of
methods, such as document reviews, key stakeholder interviews, analysis of existing
quantitative and qualitative data. The Secretariat will be able to provide the potential
consultant(s) with a fairly comprehensive set of data; additional data collection, such as
interviews with key stakeholders, may be necessary but should focus on filling information
gaps. Country visits will not be necessary as the analysis should focus at the global level.
VI. SCOPE OF WORK, TIMEFRAME & DELIVERABLES
Under the guidance of the TERG, in collaboration with the Sourcing Department, the
potential consultant(s) will:
1. Review implementation processes and outcome in terms of market responses, changes in
price in relation to quantity purchased, changes in number of suppliers/producer in the
market for ARTs, ACTs, LLINs, standard short course treatment for tuberculosis and
diagnostic equipment (initially for HIV/AIDS and where feasible for tuberculosis and
malaria).
2. review how market shaping has been implemented within and outside the Global Fund’s
pooled procurement mechanism and Procurement 4 impact initiatives ;
3. analyze the market responses, changes in commodity prices, scale of purchasing order,
quality and timeliness of delivery of order, and any other appropriate measure for the
defined commodities;
4. advise if and how evaluated initiatives and mechanisms can be made available to
countries and disease components transitioning out of Global Fund support; and
5. develop recommended options (dashboard or similar) on how the Global Fund could
monitor and evaluate its market-shaping role in the future.
Timeframe
The consultant team is expected to commence their work no later than 26 March 2015. The
consultancy should not exceed 130 working days (i.e., level of effort) and will be finalized
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with the submission of the final draft report by 15th July 2015 at the latest. The final draft
report will officially be approval report at the 27th TERG meeting in September 1-3, 2015.
Deliverables
All deliverables will be submitted to the TERG. The Secretariat’s TERG Support team
together with the Sourcing Department will be the day-to-day focal point for the potential
consultant(s).
The expected deliverables are as follows:
1. Inception report
2015
Due
24
April
The consultant team shall deliver an inception report, which clearly outlines the review’s
purpose and scope, the preliminary hypotheses, the planned methods together with a design
matrix as well as a schedule for the review and questions for further clarification.
2. Update on preliminary findings
2015
Due
15
May
The consultant team shall submit an informal update of preliminary findings. These findings
will feed into the 26th TERG meeting that will take place from 2 – 4 June 2015.
3. Preliminary draft report
Due 15 June 2015
The consultant team shall submit a draft report for review and comments.
4. Final draft report
Due 15 July 2015
The consultant team shall submit a final draft report incorporating comments and received.
The final draft report will be officially approved at the 27th TERG meeting in September
2015.
In addition, the consultant team is expected to provide regular updates.
VII. CONSULTANT REQUIREMENTS
On behalf of the TERG, the Global Fund Secretariat is looking for one or more senior
evaluation specialist(s) for this assignment. A four person team consisting of a lead
consultant and a senior consultant per disease may be well suited for this evaluation;
however, the TERG would like to encourage proposals that are innovative in terms of team
composition, team size and work methods. As a starting point, it is envisioned that the team
will at a minimum require the skills and qualifications described below:

Advanced university degree or comparable training in health economics, pharmacology,
or related field; with advanced knowledge in HIV, tuberculosis and malaria;

10 to 15 years’ experience in procurement and supply management of pharmaceuticals
and health commodities in developing countries;

Advanced knowledge of the market for mentioned pharmaceuticals and health products;
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
Experience in evaluating procurement and supply management at the global, country or
organizational level;

In-depth knowledge of or prior work experience with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria;

Specialist skills with experience in structured synthesis of information from a broad
range of source materials; and

Experience in the private sector and/or generic pharma experience would be a distinct
advantage.
In addition to the skills and qualifications identified above, the consultant(s) should have
advanced professional proficiency in English.
In order to encourage timely delivery of the report, interested bidders may consider
proposing an expert per disease. However, other team compositions will also be considered.
The consultancy can be conducted remotely with 2 -3 trips to Geneva. An induction period at
the Global Fund offices for one week at the beginning of the consultancy assignment is
recommended. The Global Fund will be able to support the visa application for trips to
Switzerland if required.
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Attachment B: Evaluation Criteria
A. Technical Evaluation Criteria
In assessing each proposal, the Global Fund will allocate greater importance to technical
factors than to cost factors. A two stage procedure will be utilized in evaluating the proposals,
with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being
considered; and cost evaluation is only undertaken for technical submissions that score
above the minimum.
The score assigned to each proposal will be of guidance in determining which proposal would
provide the greatest value to the Global Fund. However, the Global Fund reserves the right
not to employ raw scores in determining best value where it considers, in its sole discretion,
that this would not be appropriate.
The technical merit of proposals will be evaluated based on the following evaluation criteria:
Category
a. Technical approach

Points
50
The extent to which the detailed proposal demonstrates a clear
understanding of, and responsiveness to, the nature of the work being
undertaken and the environment in which the work must be performed;
and

The extent to which the proposed approach and methodology are solid,
feasible, implementable, effective, and relevant as demonstrated in the
concept paper.
b. Expertise and qualifications
40

The extent to which the offeror has demonstrated to have the necessary
education, training, technical knowledge, and experience.
c. Timeline

10
Proposals must respect the timeline in section IV. Preference will be given
to proposals with an earlier start date.
A minimum technical score of 70 out of a maximum of 100 is required to pass the technical
evaluation. A proposal which fails to achieve the minimum technical threshold will not be
considered further.
B. COST EVALUATION CRITERIA
Proposals will be evaluated in terms of best value to the Global Fund, price and other factors
considered. Cost proposals must be submitted in USD.
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Attachment C: Guidance for Suppliers
Required Technical Proposal
The proposal should be concisely presented and structured, and should explain in detail your
availability, ability, capacity and resources to provide the requested services. Proposals that
are incomplete or not responsive to these criteria may not be considered in the review
process. All proposals must be submitted in English.
In case potential candidates require additional information for their proposal
development, they can send their questions via email to Orion.Yeandel@theglobalfund.org.
On electronic submission of the proposal and for correspondence regarding this request for
proposal, the RFP number, as appears in the cover letter for this solicitation and your
company name must be clearly indicated in the subject line of your e-mail and in the names
of any documents attached to the e-mail.
1. Technical approach
The supplier is required to produce a detailed proposal not exceeding 10 pages describing:



Understanding and background of the topic;
Data collection methods and quality assurance techniques; and
Analysis methods and synthesis methods.
2. Expertise and qualifications
A CV not exceeding 5 pages for each team member should be attached, focusing on work
experience and qualifications which correspond directly to the requirements set out in the
scope of work, licensing or educational qualifications, publications, field experience etc. (see
section C: Evaluation Criteria)
In addition, the supplier is required to provide information regarding their past performance
(not exceeding 2 pages). The past performance document should explain and provide
reference to at least two similar contracts and lessons learnt.
The Global Fund reserves the right to contact any persons listed in your past performance
document in order to gain a better understanding of the supplier’s past performance in
delivering similar services to former clients.
3. Timeline
The supplier is required to provide a high-level work plan for this thematic review, which
should show when the supplier would be able to submit the requested deliverables listed
under section VI, and how many working days the supplier would allocate for them.
4. Estimated budget <submit as separate e-mail, see below>
The cost component must cover all the services requested in the scope of work outlined in
the concept paper and must be in US Dollars. The cost tables and accompanying notes must
show the composition of all cost elements, including fees and profits. It must include the
following:
-
Number of estimated working days and daily rate.
Cost breakdown (working days, daily rates and expenses) per identified deliverable.
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-
Cost breakdown of expenses: International travel, per-diem, other expenses (for
example: communication costs, potential country visits etc.).
5. Other supplementary documents
In addition, potential consultant(s) may add any other documents they see relevant to clarify
their expertise in conducting this work.
General information
The Global Fund may, at its discretion, change the closing date, cancel the RFP, or revise the
terms of reference, by issuing an amendment to this solicitation. All amendments to this RFP
will be posted on the Global Fund website:
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/business_opportunities/.
It is the Supplier’s responsibility to consult the Global Fund’s website to ensure that they are
aware of amendments to this RFP.
The Global Fund may (a) reject any or all proposals, (b) accept for award a proposal other
than the lowest cost proposal, (c) accept more than one proposal, (d) accept alternate
proposals, (e) accept part of a proposal, (f) waive informalities and minor irregularities in
proposals received, and (g) cancel this RFP.
The Global Fund may award one or more contracts on the basis of initial proposals received,
without discussions or negotiations. Therefore, each initial proposal should contain the
Supplier’s best terms from a cost and technical standpoint. The Global Fund reserves the right
(but is not under obligation to do so) to enter into discussions with one or more Suppliers in
order to obtain clarifications or additional detail, to suggest refinements in the technical
proposal or other aspects of the proposal, or negotiate the cost proposal.
The Global Fund will be under no obligation to reveal, or discuss with any Suppliers, how a
proposal was assessed, or to provide any other information relative to the selection process.
Suppliers whose proposals are not selected will be notified in writing of this fact, and shall
have no claim whatsoever for any kind of compensation.
This RFP shall not be construed as a contract or a commitment of any kind. This request for
proposals in no way obligates the Global Fund to award a contract, nor does it commit the
Global Fund to pay any cost incurred in the preparation of the proposal.
Suppliers are solely responsible for their own expenses, if any, in preparing and submitting
an offer to this Request for Proposal. This would include any costs incurred during
functional demonstrations and subsequent meetings and negotiations.
In addition to the written proposal, the Global Fund may request shortlisted
suppliers to make a presentation in the week of 2nd of March.
Any questions concerning this RFP should be submitted in writing via email to:
Mr. Orion Yeandel: orion.yeandel@theglobalfund.org
Please submit two separate emails, one containing your cost proposal and one containing
your technical proposal. Both the subject line of your email and the attached document must
be labeled as follows:
Your organization name – technical proposal – TGF-15-002
Your organization name – cost proposal – TGF-15-002
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