October 26-27, 2017 Boston, MA
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of communicable diseases that exist in tropical and subtropical environments. They usually affect populations in developing countries where people have little access to clean water, hygienic sanitation facilities, and adequate healthcare. Many of these diseases could be prevented or treated without great costs, but there is a lack of investment in their development because NTD treatments usually can’t be sold at a price that would offset the cost of developing them. Fortunately, there have been several recent strides to allocate efforts to the development and dissemination of NTD treatments.
Despite the size of the market, drug companies have viewed NTDs as a high-risk investment. Development costs remain steep, while distribution costs and low predicted revenues add another layer of uncertainty. The development of an efficient tropical disease therapy development program requires strong partnership agreements to leverage private and public sector resources across the entire biomedical landscape. These partnerships require the management of divergent interests by solving critical issues like licensing rights, confidentiality concerns, intellectual property rights, and/or lack of profitability.
There is now a model for pharmaceutical companies, public institutions, non-profits, and other sponsors to pool funding to develop and distribute NTDs treatments. The multi-sector partnerships established help overcome clinical development, regulatory, and market access challenges. Pooled funding for these efforts are not sustainable because they don’t have clear plans for revenue; this event will address these sustained funding challenges. Participants of this event will gain a better understanding of the logistic challenges and benefits to building multi-sector partnerships to aid in market access and clinical development plans.
