Donors must continue funding R&D to bring new global health technologies to patients

In this post in the Hill's "Congress Blog," Kaitlin Christenson, the coalition director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition; Jim Connolly, president and CEO of Aeras; and Mel Spigelman, president and CEO of the TB Alliance, respond to a recently released G-FINDER report that shows "overall global investment in the research and development (R&D) of [new global health technologies] has declined for the first time since 2007, when the tracking of such funding began," writing, "This decline is especially troubling given that there are more than 100 products in [the Product Development Partnerships' (PDPs)] pipelines."

The authors discuss the role of the private sector in investing in and supporting global health R&D and changes in the funding landscape as a result of the global financial crisis, and conclude, "We have made huge progress over the last decade but will not reach the finish line without urgent action. ... High-income countries should view these findings as a wake-up call and work to put product development for diseases of poverty back on track. Now is a time of tremendous opportunity, with dozens of potential products within the reach of patients. Donors must commit to take them across the finish line or lose a historic opportunity to impact global health" (12/12).