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Review
. 2024 Jul;12(7):e1174-e1183.
doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(24)00144-X.

The drug drought in maternal health: an ongoing predicament

Anne Ammerdorffer  1 , Annie R A McDougall  2 , Andrew Tuttle  3 , Sara Rushwan  4 , Lester Chinery  4 , Joshua P Vogel  2 , Maya Goldstein  3 , A Metin Gülmezoglu  4
Affiliations
Review

The drug drought in maternal health: an ongoing predicament

Anne Ammerdorffer et al. Lancet Glob Health. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

We developed a comprehensive database of medicines that are used or are being investigated for pre-eclampsia or eclampsia, preterm birth or labour, postpartum haemorrhage, intrauterine growth restriction, and fetal distress and that were in active development between 2000 and 2021. A total of 444 candidates were identified: approximately half of candidates were in active development, two-thirds had been repurposed after initially being used for another condition, and just under half were in preclinical studies. Only 64 candidates were in active late-stage (phase 3) development as of Oct 25, 2021, and given the slow pace of biomedical development, it could take years before any of these products eventually make it to market. A lack of innovation for maternal health medicines persists, and the market continues to fail pregnant individuals. There is a need for collective action from all relevant stakeholders to accelerate investment in the development of new or improved medicines for pregnancy-related conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Overview of the number of maternal health medicine candidates by previous use (A, B), product type (C), research and development stage (D), and clinical use status (E)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Uncited reference

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