IRIN examines global trend in collaborative health research

"Dwindling money for research and development (R&D) and waning donor patience have forced global health players to change how they innovate new products and processes," IRIN reports. "A growing trend in collaborative health research is creating potentially life-saving global partnerships between pharmaceutical companies, academic researchers, disease advocates, and even the general public, who are drawn into the world of science through 'crowd-sourcing,'" the news service writes, adding, "Partners -- who might once have been competitors -- are increasingly sharing expertise, intellectual property and financing." IRIN highlights a number of initiatives and product-development partnerships (PDPs), including the "Re:Search project, a partnership launched in 2011 between BIO Ventures and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which ... calls for a more global interpretation of intellectual property to spur health innovation and development, and the collaboration of biotechnology firms, pharmaceutical companies and academia" (7/30).