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Nature 449, 176-179 (13 September 2007) | doi:10.1038/449176a; Published online 12 September 2007

Open Innovation Challenges

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Neglected Diseases At what price?

Patricia M. Danzon1

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Differential pricing could make global medicines affordable in developing countries. But drugs for diseases that have no market in the developed world will require additional subsidies, says Patricia M. Danzon.

For the general population in developing nations to have appropriate access to medicines, existing drugs must be affordable, and innovation is needed to develop new medicines. But this presents a potential conundrum: prices that are high enough to pay for research and development (R&D) may make medicines unaffordable in developing regions.