Creating R&D incentives for medicines for neglected diseases

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This revised doctoral thesis from the Graduiertenkolleg Law and Economics at Hamburg University examines the market failure in R&D for medicines targeting tropical diseases and the resulting lack of affordable access in poorer nations. Tropical diseases like malaria and leishmaniasis are significant contributors to mortality and disability in developing countries. Scholars have long noted that treatments for these neglected diseases are either nonexistent or in dire need of improvement. The neglect stems from two primary factors: these diseases rarely affect wealthy Northern Hemisphere countries, where most pharmaceutical innovations occur, and intellectual property protections in poorer Southern Hemisphere countries are often inadequate. Innovators face the risk of losing their R&D investments due to the availability of generic drugs at low costs by imitators. Consequently, there is minimal research directed toward developing treatments for tropical diseases, as the anticipated market returns in the private pharmaceutical sector are insufficient. The author provides a comprehensive analysis of the international patent protection landscape, emphasizing the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, which seeks to harmonize and enhance intellectual property protections globally.