For low and middle income countries, the high cost of novel treatments can be a significant barrier for the people who need these medicines the most - especially when it comes to cancers and rare diseases. This is where drug repurposing can offer a more affordable yet still innovative option that could lead to better access to treatment. So why aren’t we investing more into this? And is it safe to repurpose drugs for other types of diseases? 

To help us unpack this, we speak to Dr Yolanda Augustin, clinical oncologist at City St George's University of London, and Prof Dr Ivy Chung, pharmacologist at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. They are both part of the International Affordable Diagnostics and Therapeutics Alliance also known as IA-DATA, where Dr Yolanda is the lead coordinator while Prof Ivy is the lead principle investigator for the Universiti Malaya Affordable Diagnostics and Therapeutics programme, a project under IA-DATA.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

For low and middle income countries, the high cost of novel treatments can be a significant barrier for the people who need these medicines the most - especially when it comes to cancers and rare diseases. This is where drug repurposing can offer a more affordable yet still innovative option that could lead to better access to treatment. So why aren’t we investing more into this? And is it safe to repurpose drugs for other types of diseases?&nbsp;To help us unpack this, we speak to Dr Yolanda Augustin, clinical oncologist at City St George's University of London, and Prof Dr Ivy Chung, pharmacologist at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. They are both part of the International Affordable Diagnostics and Therapeutics Alliance also known as IA-DATA, where Dr Yolanda is the lead coordinator while Prof Ivy is the lead principle investigator for the Universiti Malaya Affordable Diagnostics and Therapeutics programme, a project under IA-DATA.Image Credit: Shutterstock

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