Will you support a patient-centred R&amp;D agreement?—Response from Miklós Szócska
Authors: Miklós Szócska
Journal: The Lancet Global Health (2017)

In response to the open letter on patient-centred research and development (R&D),1Barber MJ Gotham D Muntanyà J Balasubramaniam T on behalf of 18 other signatoriesOpen letter to the candidates for Director-General of WHO: will you support a patient-centred R&D agreement?.Lancet Glob Health. 2017; 5: e135-e136Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (6) Google Scholar failures and imbalances that characterise the global pharmaceutical market have long been recognised and dealt with, although no breakthrough has been reached in finding real solutions to these problems. While accessibility and affordability challenges in lower income countries still persist and call for reinforced actions, developments of recent years have brought about or revealed further unfavourable phenomena, such as extremely high, unaffordable prices, sometimes limited therapeutic advances brought about by innovative drugs or in certain cases lack of real innovation. These already represent global challenges in times when the socioeconomic relevance and importance of health and the health sector is being recognised and reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals, foreseeing to ensure global access to medicines and vaccines. These comprehensive developments underline the urgency of uniting forces in laying the foundations for a fairer pharmaceutical market. This is a complex task involving a large number of various players; however, it could never be questioned that the whole process should be driven by public health needs and serving patients. Ongoing WHO activities should continue and play an orienting role in both publicly and privately funded R&D activities in order to better channel R&D resources to the most relevant therapeutic areas. WHO should play a driving role by formulating questions and providing a framework for finding adequate responses. Discussions by member states on identifying and shaping proper frames for creating a balanced global pharmaceutical market, and correcting failures of the present system should be continued by all players concerned. Long-term solutions, serving patients needs and at the same time resolving the smooth operation of the pharmaceutical market, should be identified and a sensitive balance established. This cannot be a simple process. WHO should play a leading role in these efforts to ensure that public health interests prevail and dominate. At the same time, the intersectoral character of the issue cannot be ignored and long-term, sustainable solutions can be the result of extensive multisectoral consultations. Open letter to the candidates for Director-General of WHO: will you support a patient-centred R&D agreement?Less than a year from now, a new Director-General will be elected to lead WHO.1 The next Director-General should commit to developing a global agreement on the research and development (R&D) of medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics of public health importance. This is critical in order to address the dual challenges posed by unaffordable medicine prices and a lack of innovation in neglected diseases, antimicrobials, and other public health priorities. Discussions at WHO on how to address failures of the current monopoly-based R&D system have been ongoing for over a decade, but R&D policy change is yet to occur and the will to address the root causes of the access and innovation crisis is still lacking. Full-Text PDF Open Access