SciDev.Net

Multidrug-resistant TB needs more research to equip healthcare workers with the right tools, write Frank G. J. Cobelens and colleagues.

Tadataka Yamada, Alice Dautry and Mark Walport want to see better coordination and financing for a global H5N1 virus vaccine stockpile.

Researchers are putting women's lives at risk by being too cautious about trialling drugs during pregnancy, say Nicholas J. White and colleagues.

Weaknesses in HIV research design have hindered progress in identifying prevention strategies, say Stephen W. Lagakos and Alicia R. Gable.

With the worldwide growth of resistance, new antibiotics are increasingly needed. But R&D can be expensive and time-consuming, says James Love.

Peter J. Hotez argues that the Guantanamo camp should be converted into a research institute for Latin America's neglected diseases.

The many sponsors of tuberculosis drugs must work together to find new effective treatments, says Mel Spigelman.

Drug companies seeking to promote research and development in poor nations should focus on innovation, not legislation, argues Angela Saini.

Eliezer Barreiro argues that Brazil should invest in drug development using local materials and talent to reduce its reliance on imports.

David Weatherall says that pharmacogenetics — or tailor-made medicine — could be the future, but needs to be evaluated carefully before we depart from traditional diagnostic techniques.

Stephen M. Maurer and colleagues argue that an 'open access' model of drug development, with the products made freely available, could boost the treatment of tropical diseases.

David Simpson and Roger Sedjo say that governments of developing countries have been misled about the potential value of their biological resources.