1.4 billion people worldwide are affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases, a group of 17 diseases which thrive in resource-poor settings and areas associated with poverty. That's 1 in 6 people affected globally and about 3 billion at risk and yet the last decades have seen disproportionately small progress in terms of commitment to new drug development - from pipeline to clinical trials to market: 

12% of the global disease burden is accounted for by NTDs, malaria and tuberculosis - highly co-endemic diseases

Yet only 1.3% of new drugs developed by the global pharmaceutical sector over three decades were directly aimed at these diseases 

These mechanisms exist in R&D and patent frameworks which have not provided sufficient incentives for the necessary R&D expenditure and have effectively priced any new medicine out of reach of affected countries 

However:

Recent initiatives including open patent pools, drug libraries and genetic sequencing projects are driving the early discovery processes and encouraging innovation 

In addition, the London Declaration of January 2012 brought together the largest pharmaceutical companies with international politicians and heads of global health organisations in a commitment to provide increased treatments and funding for R&D to control, eliminate or even eradicate ten NTDs by 2020 

At this turning point in terms of drug discovery & development for NTDs, the International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases is presenting ISNTD d3 to address the past shortfalls in R&D productivity and drive the development of future paths towards successful gains in the control, treatment or evaluation of NTDs. 

ISNTD d3 will bring togther experts from within drug discovery and clinical trials to drive the debate and foster new partnerships & alliances leading to tangible outcomes in terms of new therapies to combat these diseases.