At GSK, we are committed to playing our part in addressing the global healthcare challenges of this century.
In February 2009 we outlined some new steps towards this commitment, a key part of which included adopting an approach to allow wider access to some intellectual property through the donation of a number patents to a patent pool for neglected tropical diseases. 
This led to the creation of the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Neglected tropical diseases are debilitating and often life threatening.
The task of developing treatments for, and perhaps even preventing, such diseases, which disproportionately affect the least developed countries, is critically important.
For one entity to tackle the problem of neglected tropical diseases could only be described as insurmountable. The continent of Africa, for example, has 34 of the 50 poorest countries in the world and suffers 24% of the global disease burden. To successfully meet the challenges in global health drug development, new partnerships and new approaches must be formed between organisations with a new mindset - one which is more innovative, flexible, and willing to take risks.
You can find out more about the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases through the pool’s website which contains more detail and a full Q&A.
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