Neglected Tropical Disease News and Research

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New clinical trial to evaluate DEX-M74 against hereditary inclusion body myopathy

Researchers have launched a clinical trial to evaluate the drug candidate DEX-M74 as a treatment for a rare degenerative muscle disease, hereditary inclusion body myopathy (HIBM). National Institutes of Health scientists from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will conduct the clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center.

25 Sep 2012

FIOCRUZ, DNDi and Brazil collaborate on R&D for neglected diseases

At the opening ceremony of the XVIII International Congress for Tropical Medicines and Malaria (ICTMM) and the XLVIII Congress of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine in Rio de Janeiro, the Ministry of Health of Brazil signed a Cooperation and Technical Assistance Agreement with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) Latin America, uniting the three actors into a strategic partnership to collaborate on research and development (R&D) for new therapies and diagnostics for neglected diseases.

25 Sep 2012

AusAID draft strategy includes more support for research into neglected diseases

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) "is planning to boost support for medical research, technology and innovations," as well as "encourage collaboration and capacity building aimed at poverty-related and neglected tropical diseases," SciDev.Net reports.

12 Sep 2012

U.S. outbreaks of Dengue, West Nile demonstrate need for U.S investment in neglected diseases

The "growing public health problems" of West Nile and dengue viruses in the U.S. can "serve as opportunities to pull the U.S. squarely into the global fight against these mosquito-borne viruses," a Bloomberg View editorial states.

5 Sep 2012

BioDiem granted European patent for antimicrobial drug

Australian vaccine development company BioDiem Ltd (ASX: BDM) announced today the successful granting of a key European patent for its synthetic antimicrobial compound BDM-I. BDM-I is a novel compound active against a range of pathogenic micro-organisms including bacteria, fungi and protozoa. The patent provides protection around BDM-I as a treatment for vulvovaginitis, a general term for inflammation of the vulva or vagina.

7 Aug 2012

Recent release: Examining next steps for corporate responsibility programs in India

In this post in the Results for Development Institute's "Center for Global Health R&D Policy Assessment" blog, Aarthi Rao, a program officer at the institute, examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs within Indian pharmaceutical companies can help fight neglected diseases.

24 Jul 2012

Cipla, DNDi to develop ARV combination therapy for children with HIV/AIDS

On the eve of the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a not-for-profit research and development (R&D) organization, announces a new collaboration with Indian drug manufacturer Cipla to develop and produce an improved first-line antiretroviral (ARV) combination therapy specifically adapted to meet the treatment needs of infants and toddlers living with HIV/AIDS.

21 Jul 2012

Researchers use mouse model of autism to treat CTD

Using a mouse model of autism, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have successfully treated an autism spectrum disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairment.

3 Jul 2012

Gates Foundation plans to invest in biotech companies to improve global access to treatments, vaccines for infectious diseases

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "plans to take equity stakes in up to a dozen biotech companies this year, signaling a shift towards a 'venture capital' approach at the world's biggest philanthropic organization" and "marking a further move away from its traditional approach of grant-giving and towards a more business-oriented way to support the development of treatments and vaccines for infectious diseases affecting the world's poor," the Financial Times reports.

29 Jun 2012

Wellcome Trust awards University of Maryland $4M to accelerate development of conjugate NTS vaccine

The University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) has received a $4 million Strategic Translation Award from the prestigious Wellcome Trust to support a collaboration with Bharat Biotech for clinical development of a new conjugate vaccine to prevent the potentially lethal infectious disease caused by invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella.

18 Jun 2012

DNDi, Astellas partner on new drug discovery research for treatment of NTDs

Astellas Pharma Inc. and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced an agreement today to collaborate on drug discovery research for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness - three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) which together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide.

12 Jun 2012

Trade officials at WIPO fail to make progress on proposals to improve access to generic medicines

Trade officials met last week at the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organization "to make progress on a proposal that would allow poor countries to provide inexpensive generic versions of lifesaving medications, rather than rely a single version of the same drugs under expensive patent monopolies," but the U.S. "remained steadfast in rejecting proposals aimed at lowering the prices of existing medicines in poor countries," the Huffington Post reports.

31 May 2012

Auranofin effective against amoebas in lab and animal studies

A team of researchers from UCSF and UC San Diego has identified an approved arthritis drug that is effective against amoebas in lab and animal studies, suggesting it could offer a low-dose, low cost treatment for the amoebic infections that cause human dysentery throughout the world.

21 May 2012

Public-private partnership pilot program could facilitate drug development for neglected diseases

The National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a pilot program under which "three pharmaceutical companies have agreed to make dozens of their failed compounds available to researchers, who will investigate if the compounds can be re-purposed into successful treatments for other diseases," Ashley Bennett, senior policy associate at the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the group's "Breakthroughs" blog.

9 May 2012

Event launches report on U.S. global health R&D

A post on the Global Health Technologies Coalition's (GHTC) "Breakthroughs" blog describes an event to launch a recent report from GHTC and Policy Cures on "data on U.S. investments over the past 10 years in global health research and development (R&D)."

3 May 2012

Five U.S. federal agencies provide significant contributions each year to global health R&D

A new report that the United States government is the largest funder of global health research and development (R&D) in the world, investing $12.7 billion over the past 10 years in the creation of new vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and other products for neglected diseases of the developing world. That funding, according to the report, helped lead to the development of more than half of the 45 new health products in the last decade that have been used to save lives around the world.

30 Apr 2012

BuruliVac project getting closer to a vaccine

During a meeting in Lisbon, the partners of the BuruliVac research consortium found the project to be running smoothly, and getting closer to a vaccine against Buruli ulcer, a disfiguring and mutilating disease that causes a lot of suffering and now is difficult to treat. Several vaccine candidates work well in mice and are ready for further testing on blood of patients; one is ready for testing in mice.

19 Apr 2012

Innovation in healthcare without borders: An invaluable contribution of diagnostics

For the third year in a row, the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association (EDMA) has been one of the strategic partners of the European Commission in organising the Innovation in Healthcare without Borders conference.

17 Apr 2012

DNDi, AstraZeneca enter collaboration on drug-compound screening for NTDs

AstraZeneca and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) today announce an agreement to collaborate on drug-compound screening for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness, three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) which together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide.

12 Apr 2012

Eisai, University of Kansas grant water-soluble pro-drug technology patent to OneWorld Health

OneWorld Health (OWH), a nonprofit that develops lifesaving medicines for neglected diseases, announced that it has signed a nonexclusive patent agreement with Eisai Co., Ltd., for a water-soluble pro-drug technology patent. OWH will use the pro-drug technology to advance development of iOWH032, its new drug to treat acute secretory diarrhea.

2 Apr 2012