Advancing Drug Innovation for Neglected Diseases—Criteria for Lead Progression
Figure 1
Attrition rates and current drug R&D pipeline for neglected diseases.
The early-stage drug pipeline for neglected tropical diseases when compared with a typical industry-driven pipeline for diseases with commercially attractive indications illustrates a significant gap in the discovery and preclinical phases, referred to as “translational innovation gap”. Our current analysis is consistent with earlier reports [1],[25]. Assuming that the average industry attrition rates apply to projects in neglected diseases, the current screening, lead identification, and optimization programmes are significantly below what is required to yield a registered drug. This insufficiency leads to a “translational innovation gap” that needs to be urgently addressed to ensure the availability of new drugs for neglected diseases. (Sources: TDR, MMV, TB Alliance, and a number of academic institutions.)