Fatal Imbalance. The Crisis in Research and Development for Drugs for Neglected Diseases

The health revolution of the last 30 years, which has produced substantial gains in life expectancy and unparalleled medical advances, has left most of the world’s population behind in important ways.

People in developing countries, who make up about 80% of the population, only represent about 20% of worldwide medicine sales. For these people, the imbalance between their needs and the availability of medicines is fatal. This report seeks to explore one element of this stark reality: the lack of research and development (R&D) into drugs to treat the diseases of the poor.