Big Pharma could suffer a blow to its reputation, and could even suffer commercially, if it fails to appreciate the potential of the Gates Foundation, analysts IMS Health have warned.
The prediction is included in the companys new report, Intelligence.360, and is one of 10 harbingers or glimpses of emerging trends likely to shape pharma in the future.
Last June, billionaire Warren Buffet made the pledge to donate most of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, adding $30.7 billion to the organisation's coffers.
And from next year, Bill Gates will leave his role as head of Microsoft to concentrate full-time on the foundation's work - a sure sign that the vast sum of money will not be squandered, but rather will produce some very significant results.
The organisation has already created an international network of research consortia to accelerate research into vaccines for HIV and other major killers including TB and malaria.
If it succeeds, the foundation could not only discover new therapies for these areas, but also produce spin-offs which could go on to rival some of pharma's own R&D programmes.
Simon Holt, IMS Healths head of consulting for Europe and the Middle East said pharma could find itself sidelined in some emerging therapeutic areas.
"While the Gates Foundation is currently focused on the unmet needs of developing nations, the therapies it develops could have broader horizons.
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