Issue Sociology of Health & Illness Sociology of Health & Illness

Volume 34, Issue 7, pages 1053–1069, September 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01455.x Author: Dr Catherine Montgomery

Global product development partnerships (PDPs) for new health technologies have become an increasingly important part of the science and development landscape over the past two decades. Polarised positions are adopted by those scrutinising the power and governance of these public–private formations; on the one hand, they are seen as successful social technology innovations, on the other as regressive and imperialistic regimes of neo-colonialism. Answering recent calls for research to examine the actors, governance, context and dynamics of PDPs, this article presents a sociological case study of one particular partnership, the Microbicides Development Programme (MDP).