Policy discussions on new drugs and R&D have taken on new urgency because of recent policy papers and upcoming key events. In the lead-up to the Annual Union Conference, the ICAAC meeting and the Global Forum for Health Research, a review of recent position papers for TB drug development will remind attendees of the importance of supporting TB drug development. The papers, issued by Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the Global Forum for Health Research underscore the need for and progress toward developing new TB drugs and cite the work of the TB Alliance.
Médecins Sans Frontières -- MSF’s report, "Running out of breath? TB care in the 21st century", calls for a dramatic increase in global investment to deliver new, improved drugs and diagnostics. It highlights the TB Alliance as "the only significant public-private partnership for TB," urges greater industry participation in drug development and echoes the core mandate of the TB Alliance to make new drugs affordable and accessible to those most in need.
"We can't be satisfied with the TB treatment we have at our disposal today," said Olivier Brouant, head of mission for MSF's TB project in Mumbai. "A patient must take TB treatment daily during six to eight months - surely we can do better than this."
IDSA “Bad Bugs, No Drugs”- The IDSA recently held its annual meeting in Boston and focusing the thinning pipeline of antibiotics in its July 2004 report, “Bad Bugs, No Drugs.” It warning that we are unable to address dangerous strains of resistant bacteria. This report also highlights the work of organizations like the TB Alliance that “offer promising opportunities to advance product R&D in areas that have languished in the past.”
The report urges a series of aggressive public policy recommendations for Congress, NIH, FDA, and highlights the role of synergistic public-private partnerships, including the TB Alliance that “offer promising opportunities to advance product R&D in areas that have languished in the past.” IDSA urges, in addition to US public funding for these partnerships, that policy makers “seriously consider ways to prompt companies to inventory their shelves for promising drug candidates that could be donated to the partnerships for development.”
Global Forum for Health Research- The Global Forum for Health Research will be holding its annual meeting from November 16 to 19 in Mexico City. The theme for the meeting is “Health research to achieve the Millennium Development Goals”, and this year’s program will focus on global efforts to expand health research in neglected areas to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
The Global Forum for Health Research also recently released its fourth annual “10/90 report”, which tracks the progress to improve the proportion of funding for health research with global disease burden. The report highlights recent progress, specifically outlining the work to date of a network of public-private partnerships, including the TB Alliance. The report includes a section outlining the TB Alliance’s accomplishments in building a portfolio, moving potential TB drugs toward clinical trials, and ensuring that the end products will be affordable, accessible and adopted by those most in need.