A recent article published in Innovation Strategy Today highlights the growing importance and potential impact that developing countries can have in creating health innovations that target diseases of the poor, particularly as a complement to PPPs.
Developing countries already contribute significant amounts of money on health research, collectively spending $2.5 billion per year, and, in many instances, are building their capacity to undertake health innovation, manufacturing, marketing and strategic policy procedures. Countries with these capabilities are described as Innovative Developing Countries (IDCs) and include India, China, Brazil and South Africa. IDCs are measured by their increasing patents, investments in technology and the proficiency of their health systems.
The authors, including Dr. Carlos Morel, a member of the Board of Directors of the TB Alliance, argue that much of IDC capacity has remained underutilized by public health actors, despite its potential to make enormous contributions to the fight against diseases of poverty. The rapidly growing health innovations within IDCs are poised to compliment and drive the major health initiatives designed by Product Development Public-Private Partnerships (PD-PPPs). Moreover, with large percentages of pharmaceutical raw materials arising from South-South trade, developing country firms are likely to have cost advantages in production, which could lead to lower drug prices. Indigenous firms, with their fluency in localized issues and geographic advantage, are also best positioned to turn diseases of the poor into profitable business opportunities.
According to the authors, IDCs should assume a leadership position in innovation both “because of their increasing capacity to address global health problems, and because they are literally closer to the legitimate voices of those living in poverty” (pg. 13). They view these efforts as a complement to other initiatives, including the PD-PPPs and call for the formation of a South-based Initiative that can create linkages between the relevant institutions within developing countries for more effective health product innovation.