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Review
. 2017 Dec 7:4:218.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2017.00218. eCollection 2017.

Innovative Approaches to Increase Access to Medicines in Developing Countries

Hilde Stevens  1 , Isabelle Huys  2
Affiliations
Review

Innovative Approaches to Increase Access to Medicines in Developing Countries

Hilde Stevens et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Access to essential medicines is problematic for one third of all persons worldwide. The price of many medicines (i.e., drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics) is unaffordable to the majority of the population in need, especially in least-developed countries, but also increasingly in middle-income countries. Several innovative approaches, based on partnerships, intellectual property, and pricing, are used to stimulate innovation, promote healthcare delivery, and reduce global health disparities. No single approach suffices, and therefore stakeholders need to further engage in partnerships promoting knowledge and technology transfer in assuring essential medicines to be manufactured, authorized, and distributed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in an effort of making them available at affordable and acceptable conditions.

Keywords: access to healthcare; intellectual property; pricing mechanism; product development partnership; public–private partnership.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Link between intellectual property (IP) frameworks as defined in the IP policies of the public–private partnership (PPPs) analyzed, the information provided in the IP policies, project focus, and project deliverables. PPPs are categorized by research focus [non-communicable diseases (NCDs, circles), communicable diseases (CDs, squares), or a mix (triangles)]; availability of IP information [unavailable (gray outlines) and limited, partial, or substantial availability (black outlines)]; and deliverables [research tools and platform technologies (striped shading), drugs, diagnostic, and therapeutic tools or materials (dotted shading) or a mix (no shading)]. ADNI, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; BioWin, Biotechnologies Wallonie Innovation; CTMM, Center for Translational Molecular Medicine; DNDi, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative; FP7, European Framework Programmes; IMI, innovative medicines initiative; MMV, medicines for malaria venture; ND, not disclosed by PPP request; OAI, Osteoarthritis Initiative; OMOP, Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership; OSDD, Open Source Drug Discovery; SC4SM, Stem Cells for Safer Medicines; TSC, the SNP Consortium; TRC, the RNAi Consortium; SGC, Structural Genomics Consortium. [Figure adapted from Stevens et al. (34) with permission from the authors.]
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