(April 6, 2023)—Product development partnerships (PDPs) are non-profit organizations that develop new products for people who suffer from diseases and health threats underserved by traditional markets by building partnerships between the public, private, academic, and philanthropic sectors. The 2021 Keeping the Promise report, published by a coalition of 12 PDPs, found that PDPs were prolific in developing new health technologies throughout the previous decade, developing more than 65 new health technologies since 2010. New data reported by this group of PDPs reveals that PDPs continued to thrive in the past two years, introducing more than a dozen new health technologies.

New PDP-developed products that have reached market since the launch of Keeping the Promise include a new HIV/AIDS prevention product, a combination antiretroviral treatment for young children with HIV/AIDS, new treatments for hepatitis C, child-friendly medicines to address relapsing malaria, and new diagnostic technologies for COVID-19 and tuberculosis. PDPs have now developed a total of 79 new health technologies since 2010, delivering more than 2.4 billion treatments, tests, and other health tools to people around the world.

These successes have been achieved amid a reduction in global funding of PDPs for neglected disease product development. Recent data from G-FINDER revealed that PDP funding is currently at the lowest level recorded since G-FINDER began tracking investment, and down 40% from its peak in 2008. Further, recent PDP achievements have come while having navigated the disruptive impact COVID-19 has had on global health research operations and resource flows.

“PDPs have proven both incredibly productive and resilient in recent years,” observed Pietro Turilli, Senior Vice President, External Affairs at TB Alliance, one of the PDPs contributing to Keeping the Promise. “These organizations lead lifesaving research to combat both long-established and emerging health threats that no other entities are positioned or incentivized to carry out, and they’ve successfully navigated challenging funding landscapes. If more robustly funded, PDPs could help enable even more profound scientific and global health revolutions impacting some of the world's most vulnerable populations.”

The global PDP portfolio is robust. Collectively, the PDPs issuing this data report managing the development of nearly 300 new health technologies, with more than 100 products in late-stage research (Phase 2 or beyond). PDPs typically are able to develop new products at costs lower than private sector product developers and PDP-developed technologies also often result in savings to health systems and offer strong returns on investment.

Additionally, PDPs continue to play a significant role in enhancing global research capacity. Through partnerships, training, infrastructure improvements, and the development of the next generation of researchers, disease experts, and scientific leaders, PDPs build sustainable platforms for research that better prepare countries to address emerging and future health issues and research questions. Updated data from the Keeping the Promise group finds that PDPs have worked to enhance research capacity in more than 700 sites in 98 countries since 2010.

Updated findings also revealed that PDPs continue to be key contributors to global COVID-19 response and broader pandemic preparedness agenda. In recent years, PDPs have developed new COVID-19 diagnostics, participated in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, coordinated COVID-19 research initiatives, and helped define, coordinate, and contribute to broader pandemic preparedness initiatives and policies.