Drug Development For Tropical Diseases Research Articles

Is the priority review voucher program stimulating new drug development for tropical diseases?

Congress created the tropical disease priority review voucher program to stimulate new drug development for tropical diseases. An analysis of the pharmaceutical pipeline indicates that the development of drugs for these tropical diseases has increased. However, the effects of the program are not uniform across all diseases, as malaria and tuberculosis have seen significant new drug development, while other diseases have not.

Product R&D for neglected diseases: Twenty-seven years of WHO/TDR experience with public-private partnerships

Product R&D for neglected diseases: Twenty-seven years of WHO/TDR experience with public-private partnerships

Product R&D for neglected diseases. Twenty-seven years of WHO/TDR experiences with public-private partnerships.

The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) was established in 1975 by the United Nations’ Development Programme, the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), at a time when only minimal scientific worldwide effort was dedicated to research into tropical diseases (Morel, 2000). TDR was therefore created with a core mission of fighting these diseases and has two specific goals: first, it seeks to identify and develop new tools and methods to control tropical diseases; and second, it seeks to develop research capacities in developing countries so that their investigators are able to establish their own research activities and contribute to the control of diseases that affect their countries. Because of its mission, TDR has always been involved in product research and development (RD Trouiller et al ., 2001). Of 1,450 new chemicals introduced to the global market, only 13 were specifically for treating neglected infectious diseases, and many of these substances came out of R&D for other disease indications, such as veterinary medicine and cancer. Through its work with industry, TDR was crucially involved in the development of about half of these new drugs. In this article, I highlight how TDR has worked effectively with industry over the past 27 years, identify several key achievements and indicate how future activities might develop in this area. > Of 1,450 new chemical entities introduced to the global market, only 13 were specifically for treating neglected infectious diseases TDR consists of four main functional areas: …

Dilemmas in drug development for tropical diseases: Experiences with praziquantel

This article analyzes policies that affected the availability of praziquantel, the drug of choice for schistosomiasis. The study examines how interactions among four actors (pharmaceutical producers, international agencies, non-governmental agencies, and national governments) affected praziquantel availability in poor countries. It also examines trends in praziquantel prices over time in different markets. This analysis demonstrates that the discovery of an effective new drug does not necessarily result in access to the drug for disease sufferers—especially if those sufferers are poor people in poor countries. The article proposes measures to improve international systems for making new drugs available in poor countries.