Annual approvals of new drugs for neglected diseases nearly doubled since early 2000s and 2009-12; Tufts

The annual number of new drug approvals worldwide to treat neglected diseases has nearly doubled in recent years, with HIV/AIDS and malaria drugs accounting for 60% of the most recent approvals, according to a newly completed analysis from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

From 2000 to 2008, an average of 2.6 new drug products - including new molecular entities, vaccines, indications, combinations and formulations - were approved each year to combat neglected diseases. That number increased to an average of five per year in 2009-12, according to Tufts CSDD.

"The trend in approvals is clearly going in the right direction, but annual R&D spending to treat neglected diseases has leveled off at $3 billion in total, after rising rapidly from 2000 to 2007, which is a cause of concern," said Joshua Cohen, assistant professor at Tufts CSDD who served as principal investigator on the study.