E-drug: World's first nonprofit drug company launched
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CMAJ September 16, 2003; 169 (6)
� 2003 <http://www.cmaj.ca/misc/terms.shtml>Canadian Medical Association
[copied as fair use]
Alan Cassels
Victoria
One major feature of the existing drug- development industry is that
diseases with little profit-making potential fail to attract badly
needed investment. But a new organization may change that.
M�decins Sans Fronti�res (MSF), with backing from health ministries
and institutes in several countries, has created the world's first
not-for-profit drug research organization. (Canada has yet to commit
funds to the project.) Planners hope the Drugs for Neglected Diseases
Initiative (DNDI) will spend around US$250 million over 10 years to
develop drugs to combat sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Chagas'
disease.
The potential impact is great. About 500 000 cases of visceral
leishmaniasis occur annually. However, a recent report (Lancet Infect
Dis 2002;2:494-501) indicates that current treatments "require long
courses and parenteral administration, and most are expensive." It
said "new and imaginative" approaches are needed because no novel
compound for treating the disease is in the pipeline.
But how can a drug company that is not buoyed by profits and
investors be created? Where will the money come from?
Dr. James Orbinski, a Toronto physician and former international
president of MSF, emphasizes that this is a "virtual"
drug-development initiative and that development costs should be much
lower than at typical "bricks-and-mortar" pharmaceutical firms.
In calculating drug-development costs, says Orbinski, the drug
industry typically includes the cost of capital - essentially the
opportunity cost - and some marketing costs. However, marketing will
not be an issue for DNDI, and most of the research will be done in
the developing world by public-sector scientists. This means that
expenses should be modest. DNDI is also capitalizing on drugs that
have already undergone some development or been abandoned at some
point along the development pipeline.
Brand-name drug companies have agreed to help. Companies such as
Merck Frosst have provided significant support in helping DNDI design
the drug-development process, and GlaxoSmithKline says it will give
the organization access to its compound libraries on a
project-by-project basis.
Orbinski says the next step is to approach donors, although he
acknowledges that this won't be easy. "It's always a challenge to
raise money for needs outside the constituency of particular
governments."
Alan Cassels, Victoria
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