One step forward, one step sideways? Expanding research capacity for neglected diseases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is general agreement, including from the pharmaceutical industry, that current market based methods of generating research into the development of pharmaceutical products that are relevant for developing countries do not work. This conclusion is relevant not just for the most neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis but even for global diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Stimulating research will mean overcoming barriers such as patent thickets, poor coordination of research activities, exclusive licensing of new technologies by universities and the structural problems that inhibit conducting appropriate clinical trials in developing countries. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the priorities for research reflect the needs of developing countries and not just donors. This article will explore each of these issues and then look at three emerging approaches to stimulating research -paying for innovation, priority review sales or vouchers and public-private partnerships, - and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>All of the stakeholders agree that there is a pressing need for a major expansion in the level of R&D. Whatever that new model turns out to be, it will have to deal with the 5 barriers outlined in this paper. Finally, none of the three proposals considered here for expanding research is free from major limitations.</p

Exploring a regional pharmaceutical innovation network as a possible solution to the market failure in the innovation of essential medicines for tropical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa

From an economic reasoning perspective, pharmaceutical research and development operates as a pure market activity. This viewpoint suggests innovations are receptive to questions of commerce. It is on this basis the pharmaceutical industry has undervalued the innovation of medicines for diseases that disproportionately affect the poor. Nevertheless, this fundamental thinking overlaps with a social norms standpoint, which dictates that pharmaceutical companies have a moral duty to classify the innovation of medicines for the poor as humanitarian goods as opposed to economic commodities. Notwithstanding the advancement of key social norms to that effect, the lack of innovative medicines for the treatment of tropical diseases is still not a realistic proposition. It is with this complexity in mind this article explores the feasibility of a regional pharmaceutical innovation network as a possible solution to the market failure in the innovation of essential medicines for the treatment of tropical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, it is argued that sub-Saharan African countries must intervene to collectively fund domestic pharmaceutical innovation through a regional network, given that the current global economic arrangement makes it challenging for the pharmaceutical industry to innovate medicines for the treatment of tropical diseases without the prospect of recouping costs of investmentsPeer reviewe

India's Product Patent Protection Regime: Less or More of 'Pills for the Poor'?

The year 2005 marks the end of the transition period for many developing countries with competent pharmaceutical sectors that previously competed in supplying generic versions of patented drugs to least-developed countries (LDCs), thereby inducing price competition and enhancing access to medicines. In a post-2005 scenario, the critical issue is whether LDCs without adequate manufacturing capabilities can make use of compulsory licensing expedi- tiously to induce price competition and secure lower prices. This article uses empirical evidence collected during a firm-level survey of the Indian pharmaceutical sector to generate evidence on emerging strategies of firms. It shows that the vigour of compulsory licensing as a price- leveraging instrument post-2005 is incumbent mainly on its economic feasibility. It shows that Indian firms view the market potential (in terms of market size and profits involved in such supply, especially if they have to make specific technological investments to produce the drug) of the mechanism much more severely than before, and may be less inclined to engage in such production if their commercial expectations are grossly unmet. The analysis assesses implica- tions of emerging strategies of firms in the Indian pharmaceutical sector for access to medicines both domestically and internationally, and highlights the challenges involved