oa Editorial [Hot Topic: Progress in Neglected Disease Drug Discovery (Guest Editors: Andrew L. Hopkins & Paul G. Wyatt)]

Half the disease burden of the developing world - 80% of the world's population - is due to infectious diseases, with one billion people suffering from a neglected tropical disease. Constant vigilance is needed against ancient killers such as malaria and tuberculosis as new drugs can lose their effect quickly due to the spread of drug resistance. Yet despite these levels of disease burden, between 1975 and 1999 only thirteen new drugs were approved that targeted diseases of the developing world. However, over the past decade the tide has began to turn, in both recognising the paucity of new medicines dedicated to the diseases of the most neglected populations and in initiating efforts to redress the problem. In recent years there has been a remarkable emergence of drug discovery efforts towards the infectious diseases of the developing world. The challenges of neglected disease drug discovery are two-fold: firstly the scientific challenge of identifying clinical drug candidates that fulfil the challenging ‘product profiles’ required for tropical diseases, where cost-of-goods, safety and drug resistance are essential consideration as the patient population are often children and women of child-baring age. Secondly, the economic challenge of the conducting modern drug discovery within the constrained resources of charity and government funding. This edition of Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry is dedicated to the theme of “Progress in Neglected Disease Drug Discovery”. The edition can be considered in two parts. The first half of the edition is dedicated to progress to date in the medicinal chemistry of three major neglected infectious disease areas: tuberculosis, malaria and trypanosomiasis. The second half of the edition is devoted to issues of target validation and lead identification, which are crucial in ensuring a robust pipeline of drug candidates are developed on the resources available. We would sincerely like to thank of the authors of these six articles, many of whom are highly respected leaders in their fields, for not only their contributions to this special edition but for dedicating their careers to advancing medicines for the poorest people on the planet. We hope many readers will be inspired by the advances in the field to make their own contributions to the challenge the world faces from the neglected infectious diseases.