Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - (Page 9) Vaccines or close to market, their short list of diseases to tackle over the next few years include cervical cancer, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis and rubella. Fighting the funding shortfall Less than 10% of investment in health research goes to diseases that affect 90% of the world, according to the Commission on Health Research for Development. Still, companies are more engaged in global health than ever before — and not just because of the sales they hope to eventually make in poor nations. Most are opting to participate in product development partnerships (PDPs), which have exploded in number in recent years as a result of the massive influx of Gates Foundation funding. In 2005, there were 32 PDPs with pharma companies. By 2008, the number had jumped to 67, according to a study undertaken by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. PDPs have been successful in creating a neglected disease pipeline where there was none. In particular, the malaria vaccine RTS,S illustrates the power of PDPs to mount research where the risk would be too large for any one entity to bear. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) first undertook development of a malaria vaccine more than 25 years ago, but progress picked up when Gates committed funding to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, and GSK teamed up with the group. The vaccine is expected to move into Phase III, where it will be tested in 16,000 patients in Africa — the largest clinical trial ever conducted for a vaccine on that continent. This has generated a lot of excitement, but the majority of neglected disease projects — 39 of the 67 — are still in early-stage research. Although the cost of early-stage research is just a fraction of full-scale clinical development, there is a fear that such research efforts will simply stall with the funding shortfall, which the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) estimates will grow to between $6 billion and $10 billion by 2017. This however has led to a refuelling of efforts to develop a market-based solution, as outlined below. Milestone grants. The new Funding model for R&D in Neglected Diseases (FRIND) recently proposed by Novartis’ head of corporate research, Paul Herrling, goes further to mitigate the risk of developing drugs and vaccines for neglected diseases. Under the model, funds from donors and governments are pooled and used Leading cause of vaccine-preventable death in children less than 5 years old 900,000 800,000 700,000 Deaths/Year 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 Pneumococcal disease* 600,000 Measles Rotavirus* Tetanus Children under 5 SOURCE: WHO OFFICIAL MORTALITY RATES—JUNE 2003 *PROVISIONAL ESTIMATES With a multitude of donor commitments, market-based incentives and new science, vaccines for some of the world’s leading killers of children will reach millions in need. to award milestone-specific grants to organisations carrying out R&D projects where there is no commercial return. If a therapy is successfully developed and approved, the inventors then can license their intellectual property to FRIND for the specific neglected-disease indication — while retaining IP rights for all other indications they might develop. This could be useful, for instance, when investigating a compound for Dengue fever, which might show activity in the closely related disease Hepatitis C, a commercial blockbuster indication. Advance market commitments. Advanced market commitments (AMCs) are agreements through which 1 7 NEWS VACCINES 2 11 FROM THE EDITOR / NEWS STRATEGY 5 CALENDAR 6 BRUSSELS REPORT 12 ONLINE NETWORKING 15 ON THE MOVE HepB Hib
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 Contents From the Editor News Calendar Brussels Report Vaccines Management Theory Online Networking On the Move Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Contents (Page 1) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - From the Editor (Page 2) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - News (Page 3) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - News (Page 4) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Calendar (Page 5) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Brussels Report (Page 6) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Vaccines (Page 7) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Vaccines (Page 8) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Vaccines (Page 9) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Vaccines (Page 10) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Management Theory (Page 11) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Online Networking (Page 12) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Online Networking (Page 13) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - Online Networking (Page 14) Pharmaceutical Executive Digest Europe - February 18, 2009 - On the Move (Page 15)
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