The WHO Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property comprises Member States but encourages contribution from "individuals, civil society groups, government institutions, academic and research institutions, the private sector and other interested parties".

Their second meeting is ending this week with no agreed strategy and plan of action.

Tasked with ensuring that poorer countries have better access to medicines and also with stimulating innovation in research and development (R&D) for diseases that disproportionately affect people in developing countries, the working group will reconvene next April, before presenting its plan to the World Health Assembly in May.

The pharmaceutical industry argues that without strong sales and profits, it cannot justify the huge expense of drug discovery and development, and should be given more financial incentives to conduct this type of research.

In a statement, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) said that adapted, innovative funding mechanisms could create a 'pull' mechanism by creating "adequate demand for future innovative medicines and vaccines to address unmet developing world health needs."

"While all of us are disappointed, the issue of addressing unmet developing world health requires precise, pragmatic and sustainable solutions," said Dr. Harvey Bale, director general of IFPMA.

"Delegates have to sift through a wide range of policy proposals. Some advocate sustainable, practical solutions, built on the concrete improvements achieved so far, while others are largely theoretical or ideological in nature."

He added that although existing practical approaches, such as the Special Program for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), are effective, they need to be reinforced.

The IFPMA said that the pharma industry should be encouraged to increase it's involvement in R&D for for diseases of the developing world through incentives, such as orphan drug legislation and transferable fast-track regulatory reviews of the sort introduced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year.

In six days of talks involving representatives from 140 Member States of the WHO, the group did however made progress on agreeing basic principles underlying the effort, as well as on some specific elements of the strategy, such as how to promote R&D and prioritise those needs.