| Summary: | Over the past century, chemical and pharmaceutical industries have made substantial strides in the development of new pharmaceuticals for a range of human diseases. Discovering and developing new drugs are part of a costly process that involves not only the search for new drug candidates, but also the performance of clinical trials. It is not uncommon to find reports of costs reaching US$ 500 million—and even US$ 1 billion—engaging multidisciplinary teams for periods of 10 or 15 years. To a large extent, these costs are borne by consumers in richer countries. In contrast, diseases that predominantly affect residents of poorer nations tend to be left out of the modern process of drug discovery. Moreover, most of the world population stricken by these illnesses is incapable of supporting the costs involved in developing the drugs they need. Because these infirmities, with few exceptions, have been ignored by those in charge of research programs, both in the public and private sectors, they have been referred to as neglected diseases. On its website, the World Health Organization categorizes 14 health conditions as “tropical diseases,”.......................
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