Research plea to drug giants

Drug companies are being invited to help establish a new institute devoted to research into largely ignored diseases which affect millions of people but attract little attention.

So-called "orphan" diseases, mainly found in the tropics, may be serious and life-threatening but do not attract major research funding because the huge cost involved is not justified by the potential return.

The World Health Organisation has urged Western governments and multinational companies to look beyond narrow self-interest amid a growing threat from new and re-emerging infectious diseases, including new killers such as the ebola virus, leishmaniasis which is spread by sandflies, and resistant diseases like cholera and tuberculosis.

Now a new initiative has come from Dr Trevor Jones, director-general of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (APBI) and a former research chief at the drug company Wellcome. He is proposing a joint venture between drug companies, medical charities, financial institutions such as the World Bank and the WHO to set up an international institute to find ways to tackle the diseases.

Part of the funding would come from the drug companies, which while not expecting to turn the results into financial profit might see benefits to their image and relations with the governments of underdeveloped countries.

Dr Jones said: "The problem is that in the case of virtually all these diseases the likely revenue you could get from any equation cannot be balanced against the investment. You're talking about, typically, pounds 200m over 12 years.

"The question is, what do you do about it?"

Dr Jones envisages an institution housing several hundred researchers. He could not predict the cost, but said that the companies involved would probably have to provide six- figure sums.

"All large companies give away a charitable component outside their core business," he said. "Part of the reason is corporate identity. Also a gesture like this would probably help improve relations in some parts of the world where there is a degree of resentment towards the big rich companies. There may also be spin-offs which could have unforeseen benefits."

A spokeswoman for the pharmaceutical giant Glaxo-Wellcome said: "We know and respect Trevor Jones and wouldn't rule out anything he proposed, but this is the first I have heard about the idea."

No one at the WHO was available for comment yesterday.