Substantial collaboration, particularly across disciplines, will be needed to bring this new class of products forward. Scientists, developers, and advocates will need to draw on relevant research findings from across disciplines. Researchers will need to work with end-users and health providers to ensure that emerging products truly reflect stakeholders’ needs. Nongovernmental organizations, funders, industry groups, and regulatory authorities will need to work together to address regulatory approvals, manufacturability, supply, and plans for market access. –Excerpt from “Saving Lives” brief, 2010.

The IMPT was established to bridge existing silos in a wide range of relevant disciplines including HIV and other STI prevention and contraception, as well as to unite experts from pre-clinical research, product development, socio-behavioral and market research, policymaking, funding, and advocacy around the shared goal of advancing the development of MPTs. What started as a small core group has grown to be a vast global network over the past ten years. Having evolved from a model based on a ‘collective impact’ approach into a full ‘learning network,’ collaborations have varied over the years in order to best meet current demands from the field. From high level working groups to now more specific ad hoc task groups focused on specific technical issues–the operational thrust of the IMPT has remained cross-disciplinary collaboration.