Tap wealth of local products emerging to fight 'neglected' diseases of poor: study

Experts propose 'Global Health Accellerator' to help new drugs, diagnostics, vaccines reach distant markets

Research firms in developing countries have a medicine cabinet full of affordable and innovative drugs, diagnostics and vaccines on shelves or in development to address "neglected tropical diseases" but need help to get such products to more potential users.

Canadian research, published today by the journal Health Affairs ("A Business Plan To Help The 'Global South' In Its Fight Against Neglected Diseases"), says roughly 1 billion people worldwide are killed or sickened by "neglected tropical diseases" (NTDs). More than 30 such diseases, caused by worms, protozoa, bacteria, fungi or viruses, afflict the poorest people in the poorest countries, and collectively cause a health burden comparable to malaria, tuberculosis or AIDS (known as the "Big 3" tropical diseases).

The McLaughlin Rotman Centre for Global Health study notes earlier research that, of 1,556 new drugs approved between 1975-2004, only 21 (1.3%) targeted NTDs. That represents "a public health failure," authors say, given that NTDs affect roughly 15% of humanity.

The authors go on to profile for the first time the products and capabilities of 78 homegrown, small to medium-sized health biotechnology companies in Brazil, China, India and South Africa.

They found such firms collectively produced 123 products (such as vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests) for all "neglected" diseases, including the "Big 3" (malaria, tuberculosis or AIDS).

Of these 123 products:

• 69 were already on the market with 54 more in development; and
• Roughly half (62) specifically target NTDs (the term NTD excludes the "Big 3"), with 28 products on the market and 34 in development.

"The NTD-related product pipeline in developing countries is like a rich new deposit of gold that needs to be fully mined," says MRC Director and co-author Peter A. Singer, MD. "Companies in emerging economies are filling a void by creating innovative products to address NTDs. Many such firms are successful at reaching local and regional markets. What they urgently require is help getting these products and their benefits to distant places."

The study is the first ever to detail the developing country pipeline of new products against neglected tropical diseases based on a survey of firms in emerging economies.

Drug donations by multinational firms, as generous as they are, just don't go far enough and "we need to build upon them," says Dr. Singer.