Europe, India fund record growth in neglected disease research

In recent years, India and the nations of Europe have poured a record amount of funding into research and development surrounding neglected diseases, reaching more than $3.5 billion in 2017, according to the annual G-FINDER report.

The G-FINDER report — a survey of R&D funding for neglected infectious diseases — determined that new investments came largely from the United Kingdom, the European Commission, Germany, and India. Further, that record funding in 2017 was up by 7 percent over the previous year. The funding increase was due in part to continued public sector interest, but governments have stepped up as well: the U.K. raised its contribution by $87 million, the European Commission by $40 million, India by $21 million, and Germany by $18 million.

“It’s exciting to see record-breaking support for research into these diseases, which prevent individuals from reaching their full potential and trap communities in cycles of poverty,” Nick Chapman, the report’s lead author, said. “Thanks to sustained investment, 2018 alone brought new game-changing tools for debilitating diseases like sleeping sickness, river blindness, and malaria. There are many more potentially transformative tools in the pipeline, which we can achieve with continued commitment.”

India made up much of the $17 million increase to public funding, contributing nearly three-quarters of the gain. Meanwhile, the United States has maintained its spot as the world’s largest public funder, at a total of $1,595 million. Much of new investment went to product development.

Despite the gains, however, the G-FINDER report noted an important issue: neglected disease research relies heavily on a small number of top funders. Further, even record investment does not reach global targets set under the World Health Organization — 0.01 percent of each member state’s GDP.