Category Archives: R&D

Global Network Co-hosts Staff Briefings on Capitol Hill

Africa, policy, R&D, ,

 

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The policy team at the Global Network was busy this week taking the issue of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) up to Capitol Hill. Together with members of the NTD Roundtable, a group of global health partners committed to fighting NTDs, we co-sponsored an NTD staff briefing in the House of Representatives on Thursday May 8, and once again in the Senate on Monday May 12. The briefings were held to discuss the impact of USAID’s NTD Program, the significance of U.S. leadership in the fight against NTDs, the potential impact of the expanded FY14 funding of $100 million for NTDs, and the need for greater NTD R&D to address treatment gaps.

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The House briefing was held the same day that USAID announced the delivery of its one billionth NTD treatment since the launch of its NTD Program in fiscal year 2006. USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, Dr. Ariel Pablos-Méndez, recognized the occasion by visiting a mass drug administration site in Saint-Louis-du-Sud, Haiti. During the visit, Dr. Pablos-Méndez said “the power of committed partnerships” is a key ingredient in USAID’s successful NTD Program, which brings together ministries of health, implementing NGOs, and pharmaceutical companies to form the largest public-private partnership inthe Agency’s 50-year history.

Neeraj with His Excellency Maman Sidikou, Ambassador of Niger, at the House staff briefing

Neeraj with His Excellency Maman Sidikou, Ambassador of Niger, at the House staff briefing

The Hill briefings were attended by representatives from key House and Senate committees, the NGO community, and the African diplomatic corps –including the Ambassador of Niger, His Excellency Maman Sidikou, and the Ambassador of Burkina Faso, His Excellency Seydou Bouda.  Global Network Managing Director, Neeraj Mistry, provided opening remarks and moderated the event, and presentations were given by Dr. Achille Kabore of RTI, Andrea Rudolph of Médecins Sans Frontières and Rachel Cohen of DNDi. During the briefings, participants also viewed the END7 campaign’s , “Myanmar’s Moment.” The video highlights an END7-supported mass drug administration program in Myanmar.

Following the formal presentation in the House, the speakers and participants engaged in a lively discussion surrounding the treatment of lymphatic filariasis and intestinal worms, the efficacy of certain NTD medicines, the NTD legislation that Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) plans to introduce soon, and how best to educate and showcase the success of NTD programs to the African diplomatic community. Ambassador Sidikou of Niger re-iterated that success stories must be highlighted to encourage program expansion; Niger was one of USAID’s first five fast-track countries that were the original focus of the NTD Program in FY2006. Since then, USAID has distributed 115 million NTD treatments and Niger is on track to eliminate blinding trachoma by 2015.

Neeraj with His Excellency Seydou Bouda, Ambassador of Burkina Faso, at the Senate staff briefing

Neeraj with His Excellency Seydou Bouda, Ambassador of Burkina Faso, at the Senate staff briefing

After the presentations in the Senate, the audience discussed advocacy for NTDs, what needs to be done to reach the WHO’s 2020 goals, and how to mix the need to use currently available tools to treat NTDs and the need to design new tools to improve or discover new treatments. Ambassador Bouda of Burkina Faso expressed gratitude for the great work that is being done in his country to fight NTDs; Burkina Faso is also a USAID fast-track country, and nearly 146 million treatments have been distributed since the NTD Program began operations.

The staff briefings were a great opportunity to demonstrate to Congress the success and effectiveness of NTD control and elimination programs. With the support of USAID, leading pharmaceutical companies, NGO partners and the commitment of NTD-endemic countries, we’re getting closer to controlling and eliminating NTDs worldwide.

“Lives in the Balance” event discusses need for more neglected disease R&D

NTDs, R&D

Yesterday and today, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) convened “Lives in the Balance: Delivering Medical Innovations for Neglected Patients and Populations”, an event which is bringing key actors together to discuss progress and shortcomings in neglected disease research and development.

A new MSF analysis found that although neglected diseases account for an estimated 11 percent of the global disease burden, relatively few new therapies have been developed to help fight these diseases. As reported in Nature News Blog, “Just 3.8 percent of the 756 new drugs approved for use by US and Europe between 2000 to 2011 treat neglected diseases.” Only 1.4 percent of the 150,000 registered clinical trials were on neglected diseases (read the full report here).

“Vaccines are lacking for all major neglected diseases. We have a real problem,” explained Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the event.

Why is there not more being done? Sabin President, Dr. Peter Hotez explains that because neglected diseases affect the world’s most neglected people, those living on less than $2 USD a day, there is little profit margin for new drugs, vaccines or other products.

“Wherever you find extreme poverty, you are going to find these diseases, be it in Africa, Asia or even the US,” Hotez said in Nature.

Another post in the Nature News Blog, “Neglected diseases see few new drugs despite upped investment,” explores different possibilities for the lack of new therapies.

Hotez suggests that we may just need to be patient, as new drug development can take a decade or more. Encouragingly, new drugs and vaccines for neglected diseases are in the works. The Sabin Vaccine Institute is in the process of developing four vaccines for neglected diseases, and its human hookworm vaccine has shown preliminary success in Phase 1 clinical testing. DNDi also has several products in the pipeline.

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Northeastern University Launches Integrated Global Health Initiative to Tackle NTDs

African Sleeping Sickness, Chagas, leishmaniasis, R&D

By Angela Herring

Drug discovery is by definition slow and costly. The multiphase process, which begins with basic science research and ends with clinical trials, can consume up to two decades and more than a billion dollars.

Credit: Mary Knox Merrill, Northeastern University

For NTDs such as African sleeping sickness and Chagas disease, the outlook is even grimmer: anti-infective drugs tend to have higher fail rates than other drugs, as parasites quickly develop resistance. And since NTDs predominantly affect low-income populations, the incentive for big pharmaceutical companies to improve on current treatments is low.

But current treatments are ghastly. In some cases, the drugs themselves can be poisonous and have high mortality rates. With one-third of the planet’s population at risk for NTDs, a new paradigm is required.

Northeastern University chemistry and chemical biology professor Michael Pollastri believes an open-source science model will hasten the drug discovery process. Despite great advances in NTD research over the last decade, the global research effort is largely uncoordinated. Continue reading →

IFPMA Creates Blueprint for NTDs R&D

NTDs, R&D

A recent report commissioned by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) examines the opportunities and challenges associated with initiatives aimed at stimulating research and development (R&D) of treatments targeting neglected tropical diseases.

According to the report, there are several systemic gaps in the R&D model for NTDs. These include: insufficient dedication to basic research efforts aimed at these diseases; inadequate financial and commercial incentives for further investment in these diseases during applied research and development stages; and the possibility that even if developed, these drugs may still be too costly for populations in developing countries.

The report lays out various mechanisms that can stimulate research and discovery activities in relation to NTDs. Some of these mechanisms are: Open databases or compound libraries, R&D grants aimed at specific research outcomes, R&D prizes that provide payments to R&D entities for achieving a particular outcome, product development partnerships that are comprised of private partnerships involving a combination of grant funding, R&D partnerships focused on product development, and an R&D treaty which is made up of an international agreement to increase funding commitments for R&D into NTDs.  However, many of these mechanisms are in the early development stages and therefore difficult to currently assess their effectiveness. Therefore, the report also provides a model for evaluating mechanisms incentivizing R&D into NTDs.

The full report is available here.

To learn more about NTDs visit here.