A Business Plan To Help The 'Global South' In Its Fight Against Neglected Diseases

Although neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) threaten the health of those living in the developing world, innovation directed toward addressing NTDs is comparatively meager. Health biotechnology firms in rapidly growing economies in the global South are developing and selling vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics for these diseases to local markets. In this paper we identify a pipeline of sixty-two NTD products from seventy-eight "Southern" companies. We also propose creation of a Global Health Accelerator-a new nonprofit organization whose mission would be to support and help grow this Southern source of affordable innovation for NTDs. [Health Aff (Millwood). 2009;28(6):1760-73]