Current trends in and future potential of crowdfunding to finance R&D of treatments for neglected tropical diseases

Safouane M Benazzouz; John Malkinson; Gergely Tóth

doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2021.02.021

Current trends in and future potential of crowdfunding to finance R&D of treatments for neglected tropical diseases

Drug Discov Today. 2021 Jul;26(7):1563-1568. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.02.021. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Authors

Safouane M Benazzouz¹, John Malkinson², Gergely Tóth³

Affiliations

¹ UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AX, UK; University of Algiers 1, 2 Didouche Mourad Street, Algiers 16000, Algeria; Pasteur Institute of Algeria, Petit Staoueli Street, Dely Ibrahim, Algiers 16320, Algeria.
² UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AX, UK.
³ UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AX, UK; Cantabio Pharmaceuticals, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA; TTK-NAP B, Drug Discovery Research Group, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Research Center for Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary. Electronic address: toth.gergely@ttk.hu.

PMID: 33640317
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.02.021

Abstract

A serious lack of funding exists for the research and development (R&D) of therapeutics, diagnostics, and preventive measures for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Hence, crowdfunding to finance R&D for NTDs has high importance, because it is a new and alternate source of capital. This study explores current trends of crowdfunding for R&D for NTDs. Our study showed that, although the number of crowdfunding campaigns for NTDs has been increasing since 2010, crowdfunding overall has not reached its full potential. Several factors contributing positively to the success of crowdfunding campaigns were identified. These and the promotion of the crowdfunding ecosystem could aid the unlocking of its potential as a complementary financing source to conventional funding practices of R&D for NTDs.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biomedical Research / economics*
Crowdsourcing / trends*
Fund Raising / trends*
Neglected Diseases / drug therapy*
Neglected Diseases / economics*
Tropical Medicine