by Walker M, Hamley JID, Milton P, Monnot F, Kinrade S, Specht S, Pedrique B, Basáñez M-G. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2021; 73(6):e1391–e1396. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab350
Summary: Drug-based interventions are central to efforts to tackle five of the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases via the World Health Organization preventive chemotherapy strategy. There is a growing consensus that currently available drugs for some of these diseases, particularly onchocerciasis, are inadequate to achieve the proposed elimination goals and that novel therapeutic options will be needed. Since in this area no high return on investment is possible, it is essential to minimize waste of money and resources. The authors show how mathematical modeling can guide the drug development pathway, yielding resource-saving and efficiency payoffs, from the refinement of target product profiles and intended context of use to the design of clinical trials.
