The recent innovation activities of global top-tier pharmaceutical companies in accordance with global and regional health concerns were investigated in order to identify their innovations contributing to population health. “Innovation activity” was defined as the number of drugs for which R&D activities have been reported within the last three years. Such activities were measured by collecting the data on drug developments and classifying them by developer company, phase of development, therapeutic use, and the country in which the development conducted. Subsequently, we examined and compared the correlations between the global innovation activities of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and the disease burden measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by income level and region. In addition, this study analyzed the association between country-specific innovations and DALYs in the corresponding countries. At a global level, the innovation activities were not associated with global DALYs. However, when analyzed by income level, the innovation activities were associated with DALYs in high income and upper middle income countries while it was not associated with DALYs in low middle income and low income countries. In terms of region, correlations were found between the innovation activities and DALYs in the European region, the Americas, and the Western Pacific region whereas such correlations were not found in the African, Eastern Mediterranean, and South-East Asian regions. Similar to the analyses by income level and region, correlations between country-specific innovations and DALYs were only found in high income or high GDP countries. In addition, an empirical analysis of several cases including Canada, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom revealed that pharmaceutical innovation is more closely related to market size than disease burden. This study identified that discrepancies between pharmaceutical innovation and public health needs, i.e., disease burden values, have persisted until recently. To alleviate this imbalance, both public and private sectors should not only fulfill their respective roles and responsibilities regarding these issues, but also make strategic and collaborative efforts such as Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) directed toward public health improvement.

中文翻译：

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疾病负担指标和领先制药公司的创新：全球和区域比较研究。

对全球顶级制药公司根据全球和区域健康问题进行的近期创新活动进行了调查，以确定其创新对人口健康的贡献。“创新活动”定义为最近三年内已报告其研发活动的药物数量。通过收集有关药物开发的数据并按开发商公司，开发阶段，治疗用途和开发进行的国家对其进行分类来衡量此类活动。随后，我们检查并比较了收入排名和地区排名前20位的制药公司的全球创新活动与以残疾调整生命年（DALYs）衡量的疾病负担之间的相关性。此外，这项研究分析了特定国家的创新与相应国家的DALY之间的关联。在全球范围内，创新活动与全球DALY无关。但是，按收入水平分析，创新活动与高收入和中高收入国家的DALYs相关，而与中低收入和低收入国家的DALYs不相关。就地区而言，在欧洲，美洲和西太平洋地区的创新活动与DALY之间存在相关性，而在非洲，东地中海和东南亚地区则没有这种相关性。类似于按收入水平和地区进行的分析，仅在高收入或高GDP国家中发现了针对特定国家的创新与DALY之间的相关性。此外，对包括加拿大，德国，韩国和英国在内的几个案例进行的实证分析表明，药物创新与市场规模的关系比疾病负担更紧密。这项研究表明，药物创新与公共卫生需求之间的差异（即疾病负担值）一直持续到最近。为了减轻这种不平衡，公共部门和私营部门不仅应履行它们在这些问题上的各自作用和责任，而且还应做出战略和合作努力，例如针对公共卫生改善的产品开发合作伙伴关系（PDP）。英国透露，药物创新与市场规模的关系比疾病负担更紧密。这项研究表明，药物创新与公共卫生需求之间的差异（即疾病负担值）一直持续到最近。为了减轻这种不平衡，公共部门和私营部门不仅应在这些问题上履行各自的角色和责任，而且还应进行战略和协作性努力，例如针对公共卫生改善的产品开发合作伙伴关系（PDP）。英国透露，药物创新与市场规模的关系比疾病负担更紧密。这项研究表明，药物创新与公共卫生需求之间的差异（即疾病负担值）一直持续到最近。为了减轻这种不平衡，公共部门和私营部门不仅应履行它们在这些问题上的各自作用和责任，而且还应做出战略和合作努力，例如针对公共卫生改善的产品开发合作伙伴关系（PDP）。