The IFPMA (International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations) published its 2010 “Status Report on Pharmaceutical Industry R&D for Diseases of the Developing World.” The report “highlights the increasing efforts of IFPMA member companies, working with partners or alone, to develop medicines and vaccines for the 10 diseases of the developing world (DDW) prioritized by the TDR tropical disease research and training organization.”  The 10 diseases are, in order of decreasing mortality: tuberculosis, malaria, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, dengue, onchocerciasis (River blindness), American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease), schistosomiasis, leprosy and lymphatic filariasis.

IFPMA said the number of DDW medicine and vaccine projects undertaken by IFPMA companies “has increased from 84 in 2009 to a total of 102 this year. The number of tuberculosis projects grew from 25 to 31 and malaria projects from 34 to 41, while projects for the remaining eight tropical diseases increased from 25 to 30.”
Mr. Haruo Naito, President of the IFPMA and President & CEO of Eisai Co., Ltd., speaking at the IFPMA Assembly in Washington DC, said, “This latest Developing World Disease R&D Status Report shows that our industry is serious about helping to address human diseases, including those which otherwise risk being neglected because they affect poor countries. In October, the Director General of the World Health Organization called on companies to help improve access to medicines for neglected tropical diseases – and IFPMA companies responded with significant new or expanded donation programs. Today, we see that our companies are also equally committed to help develop new medicines and vaccines for these diseases. The latest report also shows that industry is not alone in its R&D efforts, for nearly four out of five DDW research projects are undertaken in cooperation with non-industry partners…”  http://www.ifpma.org/News/NewsReleaseDetail.aspx?nID=13810