Public-Private Partnerships in North-South Research:
Powerful Tool or Trojan Horse?
Some conclusions following the KFPE workshop of 19 August 2003 in Basel

Public – Private Partnerships for Drug Development
Example of Medicines for Malaria Venture

Robert G. Ridley, Co-ordinator, Product R&D
UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Pprogramme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR)

There is a growing recognition that new drugs are desperately required to counter many tropical diseases, often referred to as neglected diseases. These drugs are not being developed alone by the pharmaceutical industry because the market size does not justify the high cost of investing in drug R&D. The patients, and countries, affected by these disease do not have the ability to pay the enhanced cost of innovative products. Over the last few decades, and greatly accelerated over the last five years, there has been an increasing level of activity in generating public private partnerships to ensure the discovery, development and delivery of much needed new drugs.

WHO/TDR has been active in promoting this type of activity since its creation as a special programme in 1975 and a number of examples will be presented where such partnerships have delivered new drugs that have had a major health impact at country and community level. The most significant is probably the development of ivermectin for onchocerciasis and the subsequent donation programme of Merck, which has sustained an onchocerciasis control programme. The significance of capacity building within the context of North-South and South –South partnerships will be discussed

The major part of the presentation however will relate to the creation in 1999 of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, a new organisation, as a Swiss Foundation for the discovery and development of new antimalarial drugs. Its creation involved the joint commitment of WHO (through TDR technical asssistance and from countries through the WHO Executive Bard), industry (through the IFPMA – Roche and GSK were heavily involved in initial discussions), the World Bank, the Rockefeller and Gates Foundation and other stakeholders. The SDI were also prominent in the creation and management of this partnership. A common vision and mission was developed along with a transparent governance system.

The basic idea is that public sector and philanthropic sector funds are used to complement Pharma resources in drug R&D. The projects are jointly managed by all partners. The output is drugs that are preferentially priced in developing countries. Prices can be made affordable because of the reduced cost and risk of development to the private sector partner.

Significantly, within the space of a few years, a strong portfolio of drug discovery and development projects have been created by MMV. Almost all projects involve a pharmaceutical company partner. Several projects involve small pharmaceutical companies from the South who wish to further develop as R&D companies. Some projects have been initiated from the South. The major scientific involvement so far in the South however occurs at the level of undertaking clinical studies. Models, based on TDR experiences, that build capacity to carry out trials to good clinical practice and with appropriate ethical review, and provide ownership of this process to the clinical investigators from the South, will be presented.

An attempt will be made to place these activities within the global context of public private partnerships for neglected diseases.



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