The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Investments in respiratory infectious disease research 1997-2010: a systematic analysis of UK funding

Investments in respiratory infectious disease research 1997-2010: a systematic analysis of UK funding
Investments in respiratory infectious disease research 1997-2010: a systematic analysis of UK funding
Objectives: Respiratory infections are responsible for a large global burden of disease. We assessed the public and philanthropic investments awarded to UK institutions for respiratory infectious disease research to identify areas of underinvestment. We aimed to identify projects and categorise them by pathogen, disease and position along the research and development value chain.

Setting: The UK.

Participants: Institutions that host and carry out infectious disease research.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: The total amount spent and number of studies with a focus on several different respiratory pathogens or diseases, and to correlate these against the global burden of disease; also the total amount spent and number of studies relating to the type of science, the predominant funder in each category and the mean and median award size.

Results: We identified 6165 infectious disease studies with a total investment of £2·6 billion. Respiratory research received £419 million (16.1%) across 1192 (19.3%) studies. The Wellcome Trust provided greatest investment (£135.2 million; 32.3%). Tuberculosis received £155 million (37.1%), influenza £80 million (19.1%) and pneumonia £27.8 million (6.6%). Despite high burden, there was relatively little investment in vaccine-preventable diseases including diphtheria (£0.1 million, 0.03%), measles (£5.0 million, 1.2%) and drug-resistant tuberculosis. There were 802 preclinical studies (67.3%) receiving £273 million (65.2%), while implementation research received £81 million (19.3%) across 274 studies (23%). There were comparatively few phase I–IV trials or product development studies. Global health research received £68.3 million (16.3%). Relative investment was strongly correlated with 2010 disease burden.

Conclusions: The UK predominantly funds preclinical science. Tuberculosis is the most studied respiratory disease. The high global burden of pneumonia-related disease warrants greater investment than it has historically received. Other priority areas include antimicrobial resistance (particularly within tuberculosis), economics and proactive investments for emerging infectious threats.
1-9
Head, M.G.
67ce0afc-2fc3-47f4-acf2-8794d27ce69c
Fitchett, J.R.
f8f56bf8-924d-40c0-b0b8-772c885a6c7a
Cooke, M.K.
d3bab3d5-1673-4bed-a3de-8f72688e07e0
Wurie, F.B.
b19a0889-1db7-4e97-adea-2dbca1e0c766
Hayward, A.C.
f4b36347-6bdb-4481-aec7-df5ed0bdd42a
Lipman, M.C.
b07e9ddb-641f-431d-8bf3-9418167f23e9
Atun, R.
feb620b0-a662-4642-ba73-2ca4b7dae81a
Head, M.G.
67ce0afc-2fc3-47f4-acf2-8794d27ce69c
Fitchett, J.R.
f8f56bf8-924d-40c0-b0b8-772c885a6c7a
Cooke, M.K.
d3bab3d5-1673-4bed-a3de-8f72688e07e0
Wurie, F.B.
b19a0889-1db7-4e97-adea-2dbca1e0c766
Hayward, A.C.
f4b36347-6bdb-4481-aec7-df5ed0bdd42a
Lipman, M.C.
b07e9ddb-641f-431d-8bf3-9418167f23e9
Atun, R.
feb620b0-a662-4642-ba73-2ca4b7dae81a

Head, M.G., Fitchett, J.R., Cooke, M.K., Wurie, F.B., Hayward, A.C., Lipman, M.C. and Atun, R. (2014) Investments in respiratory infectious disease research 1997-2010: a systematic analysis of UK funding. BMJ Open, 4 (3), 1-9. (doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004600).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objectives: Respiratory infections are responsible for a large global burden of disease. We assessed the public and philanthropic investments awarded to UK institutions for respiratory infectious disease research to identify areas of underinvestment. We aimed to identify projects and categorise them by pathogen, disease and position along the research and development value chain.

Setting: The UK.

Participants: Institutions that host and carry out infectious disease research.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: The total amount spent and number of studies with a focus on several different respiratory pathogens or diseases, and to correlate these against the global burden of disease; also the total amount spent and number of studies relating to the type of science, the predominant funder in each category and the mean and median award size.

Results: We identified 6165 infectious disease studies with a total investment of £2·6 billion. Respiratory research received £419 million (16.1%) across 1192 (19.3%) studies. The Wellcome Trust provided greatest investment (£135.2 million; 32.3%). Tuberculosis received £155 million (37.1%), influenza £80 million (19.1%) and pneumonia £27.8 million (6.6%). Despite high burden, there was relatively little investment in vaccine-preventable diseases including diphtheria (£0.1 million, 0.03%), measles (£5.0 million, 1.2%) and drug-resistant tuberculosis. There were 802 preclinical studies (67.3%) receiving £273 million (65.2%), while implementation research received £81 million (19.3%) across 274 studies (23%). There were comparatively few phase I–IV trials or product development studies. Global health research received £68.3 million (16.3%). Relative investment was strongly correlated with 2010 disease burden.

Conclusions: The UK predominantly funds preclinical science. Tuberculosis is the most studied respiratory disease. The high global burden of pneumonia-related disease warrants greater investment than it has historically received. Other priority areas include antimicrobial resistance (particularly within tuberculosis), economics and proactive investments for emerging infectious threats.

Text
BMJ Open-2014-Head-.pdf - Version of Record
Available under License Other.
Download (1MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 26 March 2014
Published date: 26 March 2014
Organisations: Clinical & Experimental Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 387021
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/387021
PURE UUID: cf2d66f5-95e6-4652-986c-3cc0f27f8b0a
ORCID for M.G. Head: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1189-0531

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 08 Feb 2016 09:26
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:51

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: M.G. Head ORCID iD
Author: J.R. Fitchett
Author: M.K. Cooke
Author: F.B. Wurie
Author: A.C. Hayward
Author: M.C. Lipman
Author: R. Atun

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×