Improving the Investment Case for R&D in Neglected Infectious Diseases

Featuring

Hannah Kettler
Senior Program Officer for Industry Relations, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Host

Sebastian Bauhoff
Research Fellow, Center for Global Development

Neglected diseases continue to affect over a billion people worldwide and effective treatments and diagnostics are scarce. Yet research and development (R&D) for products to prevent and treat these diseases tend to be underfunded. A major barrier, particularly for pharmaceutical companies, is a lack of economic incentives to justify R&D. So how can we make the investment case and incentives for industry engagement stronger?

Hannah Kettler will share findings from a recent landscape on the nature multinational pharmaceutical companies’ investments in R&D of neglected infectious diseases. This new analysis provides insights into what motivates these companies’ investment decisions, how well current tools encourage their involvement, and more. Kettler will also present recommended steps that the Foundation and others should consider taking to help enhance the attractiveness of global health R&D opportunities.