IPS – With HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis occupying the global health spotlight, few resources are devoted to the “neglected tropical diseases” like dengue fever, hookworm infection and schistosomiasis that afflict some one billion people.

Now, small medical companies in emerging economies offer real hope to bring innovative and affordable treatments, a new study has found.

“Everyone thinks multinational drug companies can provide the vaccines and diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases. Our research shows that it’s small biomedical companies in the developing world that are doing it,” said Peter Singer of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre (MRC) for Global Health at the University of Toronto and a co-author of the study.

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