Keeping the Promise: Product Development Partnerships’ Role in the New Age of Health Research and Product Development

Over the last decade, product development partnerships (PDPs) have produced a wide assortment of lifesaving technologies targeting diseases that afflict billions in low-income countries. This report from a group of 12 PDPs, including PATH, finds that since 2010 these 12 PDPs have developed and brought to market 66 new drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other technologies for a number of diseases—including tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, meningitis and sleeping sickness—that have reached and benefitted more than 2.4 billion people in low-income countries.

The report identifies key factors in the success these organizations, such as developing products that are affordable and easy to administer and leveraging vast networks of partners to cost-effectively develop products. It also documents the contribution of PDPs to building a global ecosystem for health research, noting the 12 organizations helped build research capacity at 550 sites in 80 countries. With increased funding and political support, PDPs can ensure the promise of their current pipelines are realized and that the next wave of critical new technologies complete development and reach those in need.

PATH provided a case study on the development of MenAfriVac®, the first vaccine to be developed for meningitis specifically for Africa, which virtually eliminated meningitis across the majority of the African meningitis belt.

Corporate author(s): PATH, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, EVI, FIND, iavi, International Partnership for Microbicides, International Vaccine Institute, IVCC, Medicines Development for Global Health, Medicines for Malaria Venture, TB Alliance, TBVI

Publication date: January 2021

Available materials

    1. Keeping the Promise: Product Development Partnerships’ Role in the New Age of Health Research and Product Development 9.5 MB PDF

      Full report
    2. Executive Summary: Keeping the Promise: Product Development Partnerships’ Role in the New Age of Health Research and Product Development 4.7 MB PDF

      Executive Summary