Health products in the pipeline for infectious diseases (Sep 2018)

Published: September 2018

Candidate health products (e.g. medicines, vaccines, vector control and diagnostics) that are currently under development for 25 infectious diseases are reported by disease, product name, type, and phase of development. When available, the developer’s institution is also indicated.

Data visualization 1

Data visualization 2

What you see

The first data visualization shows the names and numbers of candidate products in development by disease , product type and phase of development. The second data visualization shows the same data but in an aggregate form.

Points to note:

Across all diseases, 463 products are in various phases of development. The top three product categories in order are vaccines (240) followed by diagnostics (93) and medicines (81).
The top three diseases with candidate products in the pipeline are malaria (96), HIV/AIDS (85) and tuberculosis (64).
An important distinction between this analysis and the previous version is the inclusion of Hepatitis C.

To explore the data further:

Hover the cursor on a data element of interest (e.g. a cell in a table, or a bar in a graphic) to see more information on that data element in a popup window.
-- For example, hovering on the bar beside each product name in the products list (first visualization) provides information on the data source and version date (which varies by source) and, when available, the developers.
Undo a selection by clicking ‘undo’ or ‘reset’ near the bottom of the page or by clicking the same element again.
Select multiple diseases to compare (using Ctrl on keyboard).
Tick a box in the disease category on the top left to filter/un-filter the WHO neglected tropical diseases (NTD) list, the R&D Blueprint pathogens or other infectious diseases.

Scope and limitations

The analysis includes:

New products or new chemical entities of existing approved products that are currently in development.
Licensed products that are in active Phase IV clinical trials in order to generate further data on risk/benefit.

The following are not included:

Products that are already approved by regulatory authorities and are undergoing post-licensure trials for different combinations, regimens or formulations.
Products that have already reached the market (unless, as mentioned above, they are in active Phase IV clinical trials – in which case they are referred to as ‘Licensed’).
Products that are discontinued or on hold.
Products in the discovery or pre-clinical phase.

For products that are currently under development in multiple trials, the most advanced phase of development is listed.

Limitations of the data and analysis

Different data sources use various classifications and terminologies. Providing a comprehensive analysis requires reclassification of the data using classification standards. This results in some loss of detail compared to the original source. Links to sources are provided below and are indicated in a popup window for each product for further information.
Where there is no information on candidate products for a particular disease or developmental phase, it is not possible to distinguish whether this is due to lack of products or lack of information. New sources and data will be included in future updates as information become available.
This analysis is updated at regular time points but time lags with the scheduled updates by the data sources are inevitable. Accuracy and completeness of the information is the responsibility of the data source, see terms and conditions of use.

Data sources

Inclusion criteria for selecting data sources for the analysis

External data sources were included in the analysis if they:

have a global scope;
provide periodical updates;
provide a comprehensive analysis that is not already available or recommended by WHO.

The Observatory welcomes information on additional potential data sources that meet these criteria. To do so, please contact: rd-observatory@who.int

See also: