As a result of a possible suboptimal alignment of drug development to the societal need, there may be conditions for which pharmacological treatment is desirable, but for which no or only limited medication is developed. In this study, this is referred to as "gaps in drug development". Other terms often used to indicate the discrepancy between the development of drugs and the societal need for drugs are unmet medical need or pharmaceutical blind spots. The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport asked KPMG to study "gaps in drug development". KPMG translated this into the following research questions:
- For which conditions is R&D activity in imbalance with the societal need? Can the need for medicines for these conditions be categorised?
- Can these conditions be broken down into subindications?
- What are the causes of limited R&D activity and what can the government do to encourage R&D activity for these conditions?
Link to the report: here.
