E-DRUG: Invitation to Paris R&D Meeting -- October 15

E-DRUG: Invitation to Paris R&D Meeting -- October 15
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INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN OPEN SESSION
     
DRUGS FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
STIMULATING DEVELOPMENT AND SECURING AVAILABILITY
     
OCTOBER 15, 1999 14.00 - 18.30
L'ORANGERAIE / PARIS
     
A conference convened by the Medecins Sans Frontieres Foundation in
collaboration with the World Health Organisation and with the support
of the Rockefeller Foundation.
     
Therapeutic options for treating life-threatening communicable
diseases (infectious and parasitic) are extremely limited. While the
commercial drug industry has been prolific, development of new
treatments for diseases that kill millions of people in poor countries
has been sparse. Of the 1,233 new chemical entities that were
registered by Western health authorities between 1975-1997, only 11
were specifically indicated for tropical diseases.
     
Currently, companies deploy research and development funds where they
can realise the greatest financial return. In practice, this means
that more money is spent researching lifestyle diseases such as
obesity and impotence than global health threats such as tuberculosis
and malaria.
     
The Open Session will follow a professional workshop that is being
convened to search for ways to repair the links that have been broken
between research, development and marketing. In the Open Session
experts will report on findings from the workshop and then
representatives from industry and international organisations will
address their role in developing the next generation of effective
communicable disease treatments.
     
Who Should Attend:
     
Representatives from academia, governments, industry, non-government
organisations, and the press with an interest in international public
health.
     
The meeting will take place in English and French. Simultaneous
translation will be available
     
14.00 - 14.15 Welcome and Introduction
                   Moderator: Laurie Garrett (Newsday, USA)
     
14.15 - 15.15 Report-Outs From Expert Roundtables
                   Conclusions & Practical Implications
                   - Nick White (Mahidol University, Thailand)
                   - Pierre Ambroise-Thomas (Grenoble University,
                          France)
                   - Dyann Wirth (Harvard University, USA)
                   - Bernard P�coul (Director, Access to Essential
                     Medicines, MSF)
     
15.15 - 15.30 Solutions from Within
            What developing countries need to augment their drug
            development capability. Realistic short and long-term
            goals
                   - NK Ganguly (Indian Council of Medical Research,
                          India)
     
15.30 - 15.45 A Scientist's Perspective
              Role and responsibilities of the researcher in today's
            market driven world
                   - Malcolm Molyneux (Director, Wellcome Trust
                    Research Laboratories, Malawi /Professor of
                     Tropical Medecine, School of Tropical Medecine,
                   UK)
     
15.45 - 16.15 Questions & Answers From Participants
    
16.15 - 16.45 Coffee Break
     
16.45 - 17.00 WHO's Role in Improving Drug Development
                Defining priorities for the development of new drugs
              for neglected diseases
                   - David Heymann (Director, Communicable Diseases
                     Cluster, WHO, Switzerland)
     
17.00 - 17.15 The World Bank's Point of View
                   How the bank can support countries in increasing
                   their capacity to develop drugs
                   - Ok Panenborg (The World Bank, USA)
     
17.15 - 17.30 Donor Country Role and Responsibilities
                How can a market be created for communicable disease
              treatments?
                   What role should donor countries play?
                   - Invited: Bruno Hansen (Director, DG XII,
                    European Commission, Belgium)
     
17.30 - 17.45 Pharmaceutical Industry: New Strategies
              Lacking commercial incentives; new ideas for effective
            collaboration
               When is transfer of technology appropriate?
               Trevor Jones (Director, The Association of the British
              Pharmaceutical Industry,U.K.)
     
If you would like to attend the meeting please reply with your name
and organisation to:
     
     Jean-Michel Piedagnel
     tel: + 33 1 4021 2929
     fax: + 33 1 4806 6868
     e-mail : fondation@paris.msf.org
     
     MSF - Fondation
     8, rue Saint-Sabin
     75544 PARIS cedex 11
     FRANCE
     
The conference will take place:
     
L'ORANGERAIE / 17, Cit� Joly / 75011 PARIS / tel: + 33 1 4700 4313
Metro stations: line 3 - St-Maur / line 2 - P�re Lachaise

Daniel BERMAN
Email: Daniel_BERMAN@geneva.msf.org
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