E-DRUG Workshop on Drug Development announcement
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DRUGS FOR COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, STIMULATING DEVELOPMENT AND SECURING
AVAILABILITY
October 14-15th 1999, Paris (France)
1st. announcement
A workshop on " Drugs for communicable diseases, stimulating development and
securing availability " will be held from October 14-15th October 1999 in
Paris (France). It is being organized by the M�decins sans Fronti�res
Foundation (MSF) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO -
CDS and HTP departments).
Therapeutic options for treating communicable diseases are extremely
limited. While the commercial drug industry has been prolific, it has been
ignoring diseases that kill the majority of people in poor countries. Within
the context of the current system, companies will always be able to realize
a higher return by marketing a new obesity drug in Western countries than by
pioneering a novel malaria treatment.
The workshop is being convened to try to repair the links that have been
broken between research, development and marketing. Without significant
market incentive, how can existing or future promising compounds be
developed into the next generation of effective disease treatments ?
The workshop will be divided in 2 sessions:
- a first session designed for 60-80 invited experts (14-15th October) will
be devoted to working together to increase understanding and develop
practical solutions to the problem of stimulating drug development ;
- an open session (15th October) intended for all international
organizations representatives, NGOs, pharmaceutical companies, international
public health community and representatives from governments.
Preliminary scientific programme is given below.
Patrice Trouiller
Bernard P�coul
M�decins sans Fronti�res Foundation (MSF)