Moran told SciDev.Net that despite an increase in public-private collaboration in drug development for neglected diseases since 2000, incentives from governments such as the United Kingdom's still focus predominantly on purely commercial research.

There is little information on how cost-effective existing approaches and incentives are and some ineffective systems have been in place for decades, says Moran.

For instance, in 1983 the United States adopted legislation giving pharmaceutical companies financial incentives to develop 'orphan' drugs for rare diseases. Despite successful drug development for diseases affecting few people in rich countries, the incentives had little impact on drug research for neglected diseases in poor countries. A similar law was enacted by the European Union in 2000.

"Some public-private partnerships are virtually pharmaceutical companies, developing their own drugs, whereas others take the form of funding agencies," says Antony Taubman, head of the traditional knowledge division at the World Intellectual Property Organization.

This means the way intellectual property rights are managed also varies from partnership to partnership.

Tauban says the public sector generally wants either to own drug patents or to be given guarantees that drugs will reach developing countries. Such guarantees could take the shape of low prices or free distribution in poor nations.

"Industry on the other hand seeks certainty and partnerships that are reasonably low risk," he says.

For instance, the multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline recently lobbied the UK government for a deal that would extend the duration of their patents in return for undertaking research into drugs for neglected diseases (see Drug giant pushes for patent reform 'to help poor').