Open Source Drug Discovery: Global Solutions to Global Problems
People who live without adequate sanitation are exposed to more diseases; people who live outside of adequate healthcare infrastructure may not receive diagnosis or prescription medicines; and people living with, or dying from, diseases that aren’t profitable are not a major focus for the development of new medicines.
Take malaria for example. It is one of the world’s oldest diseases with symptoms first documented in ancient Chinese writings in 2700 BC. Although preventable and treatable, there are still over 200 million cases of malaria every year and around 429 000 fatalities, most of whom are young children.
A concerted global effort, combined with unprecedented funding, helped to reduce the number of deaths by 22% between 2000 and 2015, demonstrating exactly what can be achieved with the appropriate infrastructure and investment. However reports of resistance to the frontline treatment – artemisinin combination therapies – threaten to reverse this trend with devastating consequences.
Malaria is only one of the diseases in urgent need of new medicines.
The Six Laws of Open Science
1 FIRST LAW: All data are open and all ideas are shared.
2 SECOND LAW: Anyone can take part at any level of the project.
3 THIRD LAW: There will be no patents.
4 FOURTH LAW: Suggestions are the best form of criticism.
5 FIFTH LAW: Public discussion is much more valuable than private email.
6 SIXTH LAW: The project is bigger than, and is not owned by, any given lab.
This urgent need for new medicines captured the world’s attention during recent Ebola and Zika outbreaks. The public were alarmed and
