“…The United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA), defines an unmet medical need as a condition which is serious, for which treatment is not addressed adequately by available therapies, and which implies an immediate need for a defined population or a longer-term need for society ( US Department of Health and Human ServicesF.a.D.A., 2014 ). Unmet medical needs exist across a wide range of disease categories including several rare diseases or orphan indications (e.g., cystic fibrosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Tourette's syndrome), neglected tropical diseases (NTDs, e.g., Chagas disease, dengue, and leprosy) as well as non-orphan and non-neglected disease categories (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's diseases and major depressive disorder) ( Kusynová et al, 2022 ; Putzeist et al, 2013 ; Scavone et al, 2019 ; Schmid and Smith, 2007 ; Weng et al, 2018 ; World Health Organization, 2022c ). Reasons for unmet needs vary, but commonly unmet needs arise from inadequate investment due to an anticipated lack of financial return ( Schmid and Smith, 2007 ; Weng et al, 2018 ) or from a scientific bottleneck ( Kusynová et al, 2022 ).…”