Global Health Policy

Products to combat neglected diseases in low-income countries generate low profit margins and—without an obvious end market—research and development tend to be underfunded. In recent years, R&D funding for neglected diseases has remained low—$3.1 billion in 2010—and substantially less than the almost $150 billion price-tag over seven years recommended by the WHO.

News this month that an experimental vaccine cuts in half the risk of malaria in children in Africa is a welcome success story 20+ years in the making. It’s also a rare bright spot in the clinical trials labyrinth that stands between promising new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic techniques and the one billion people in the developing world who suffer from one or more neglected diseases. Ninety other drug and vaccine candidates for neglected diseases are waiting in the pipeline for late stage clinical development. Under current arrangements, they will face lengthy, inefficient reviews in countries where the regulatory capacity ranges from weak to non-existent.