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Analysis of the Health Product Profile Directory - a new tool
                to inform priority-setting in global public health

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Background: The Health Product Profile Directory (HPPD) is an online database describing 8–10 key characteristics
(such as target population, measures of efficacy and dosage) of product profiles for medicines, vaccines, diagnostics
and other products that are intended to be accessed by populations in low- and middle-income countries. The
HPPD was developed by TDR on behalf of WHO and launched on 15 May 2019.
Methods: The contents of the HPPD were downloaded into an Excel™ spreadsheet via the open access interface
and analysed to identify the number of health product profiles by type, disease, year of publication, status, author
organization and safety information.
Results: The HPPD contains summaries of 215 health product profiles published between 2008 and May 2019, 117
(54%) of which provide a hyperlink to the detailed publication from which the summary was extracted, and the
remaining 98 provide an email contact for further information. A total of 55 target disease or health conditions are
covered, with 210 profiles describing a product with an infectious disease as the target. Only 5 product profiles in
the HPPD describe a product for a non-communicable disease. Four diseases account for 40% of product profiles in
the HPPD; these are tuberculosis (33 profiles, 15%), malaria (31 profiles, 14%), HIV (13 profiles, 6%) and Chagas (10
profiles, 5%).
Conclusion: The HPPD provides a new tool to inform priority-setting in global health — it includes all product
profiles authored by WHO (n = 51). There is a need to standardise nomenclature to more clearly distinguish
between strategic publications (describing research and development (R&D) priorities or preferred characteristics)
compared to target product profiles to guide a specific candidate product undergoing R&D. It is recommended
that all profiles published in the HPPD define more clearly what affordability means in the context where the
product is intended to be used and all profiles should include a statement of safety. Combining the analysis from
HPPD to a mapping of funds available for R&D and those products in the R&D pipeline would create a better
overview of global health priorities and how they are supported. Such analysis and increased transparency should
take us a step closer to measuring and improving coordination of efforts in global health R&D.

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Health Research Policy And Systems, 2019, vol. 17

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Articles publicats en revistes (ISGlobal)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Analysis of the Health Product Profile Directory - a new tool
                to inform priority-setting in global public health