Researchers at South Korean lab make advance in fight against neglected tropical diseases

VOA News reports on a scientific breakthrough, which researchers call a "game changer" for developing new drugs, developed at Institut Pasteur Korea [IPK], a South Korean branch of the 124-year-old French research institute that is developing new drugs to combat diseases mainly affecting developing countries, including neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). "Combining imaging technology and biotechnology, scientists are now able to witness infections as they occur, in real time," VOA writes.

Ulf Nehrbass, chief executive officer of IPK, said that giant for-profit pharmaceutical companies "devote the bulk of their research budgets to finding blockbuster drugs, which could ring up billions of dollars in profits," but ignore the need for effective drugs targeting neglected diseases, VOA notes. "There have been breakthroughs in fighting some of the world's most serious and common diseases, thanks to start-up funding from South Korea's science ministry, along with contributions from non-government groups in the United States, France and other countries," VOA writes (Herman, 9/9).