Tuberculosis R&D Investments: A Preliminary Assessment
9 September 2006. Related: On the web.
A documented review of current levels of spending on tuberculosis research and development (R&D) by the top 30 reporting donors, including basic science, research on new tools (diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines), and operational research.
30 respondents reported spending $348 million on TB R&D in 2005, 70% of it by the public sector, 23% by philanthropies (mainly the Gates Foundation, 6.5% by industry (only 4 companies disclosed investments), and 0.5% by multilateral agencies.
$93 million (27% of investment) went to basic research, $15 million (4%) to diagnostics, $67 million (19%) to vaccines, $100 million (29%) to drugs, $48 million (14%) to operational research, and $23 million (7%) unspecified. The report reveals that research spending lags behind targets specified in The Global Plan to Stop TB: 2006-2015 by $700 million per year.
A more complete report will be released at the IUATLD 37th World Conference on Lung Health from 31 October – 4 November 2006.