Health areas

Neglected diseases

With the help of an international advisory committee, we have developed a definition and scope of neglected diseases that we use. We regularly review and update this.
Our definition is:

• The burden of the disease or condition disproportionately affects people in low- and middle-income countries;
• There is no existing product to treat / prevent the disease or condition, OR a product exists but is poorly suited for use in low- and middle-income countries; AND
• There is no commercial market to stimulate R&D by industry.

Not all areas of research are judged to meet our definition of ‘neglected’ in relation to every disease, and some are included only with restrictions. For example, investments in pneumonia drug R&D are excluded because a sufficient commercial market exists; while pneumonia vaccine R&D investments are only included if they meet specific requirements for strain, vaccine type and target age group.

Emerging infectious diseases

The first emerging infectious disease to be tracked by G-FINDER was Ebola in response to the 2014 West African epidemic. Since 2016, the scope of our emerging infectious diseases tracking has been based on the list of priority diseases identified in the World Health Organization’s R&D Blueprint for action to prevent epidemics. We also gather data on some emerging infectious diseases not included in the Blueprint priority list which warrant ongoing review.

Our definition of emerging infectious diseases has very few restrictions. R&D for almost all product development categories (drugs, vaccines, biologics, and diagnostics) is included without further restrictions for all priority emerging infectious diseases pathogens, as is basic research. R&D for vector control products is included where relevant.

Sexual & reproductive health issues

We began tracking annual funding for R&D for sexual & reproductive health issues in 2019. Our definition aims to capture R&D that is relevant to the sexual and reproductive health needs of people in low- and middle-income countries according to the following overarching criteria:

1. The area is a significant health issue affecting people in low- and middle-income countries;
2. There is a need for new products (i.e. there is no existing product, or improved or additional products are needed to meet the needs of people in low- and middle-income countries).

We maintain an ongoing consultation with our Expert Advisory Group for advice on how to apply our definition of sexual & reproductive health issues in particular contexts.

Not all basic research and product types are included in our definition of sexual & reproductive health issues, and some are included only with restrictions. For example, chlamydia drugs are excluded because cheap and efficacious treatment with oral azithromycin already exists and is appropriate for use in low- and middle-income settings; while syphilis drugs are included but restricted only to those that target latent, tertiary, maternal or congenital syphilis, since drugs to treat early stage syphilis are effective and readily available.

We also include platform technologies, where the product could feasibly be used for both sexual & reproductive health issues or neglected diseases, such as general drug or vaccine delivery platforms. HIV and hepatitis B are part of both our neglected disease and our sexual & reproductive health definitions, and may therefore appear in our analysis covering either of these disease areas.