Neglected Tropical Disease News and Research

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Recent releases: health development in Afghanistan; trade agreements effect on drug access; outside experts in patent reviews; neglected disease legislation; management in public health; foreign aid reform

A Lancet editorial examines Afghanistan's progress in health developments since 2001, in light of the country's recent presidential election.

29 Aug 2009

Infectious Disease Research Institute commences clinical trial of its leishmaniasis vaccine in Sudan

IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) announced today the start of a clinical trial in Sudan to test its leishmaniasis vaccine candidate for the treatment of post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), a complication of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) which is observed in 50% of patients treated for VL in the country, predominantly affecting children.

28 Aug 2009

New consortium to tackle African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis

A new consortium has been formed to boost drug development for the treatment of two deadly diseases, African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis, which affect millions of people worldwide.

17 Aug 2009

Opinion: U.S. global health strategy; fighting drought

As the U.S. "works on a comprehensive global health strategy," we need to "expand our thinking to encompass holistic solutions that go into improving the health of the world’s poor," Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority leader and current member of the Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) Board of Directors, writes in a Boston Globe opinion piece.

13 Aug 2009

GlaxoSmithKline pledges $97 million investment in AIDS drugs for Africa, allows South African drugmaker to produce generic second-line treatment

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Tuesday announced plans to invest $97 million over 10 years "to improve research, development and access to AIDS drugs in Africa," Reuters reports.

15 Jul 2009

IPS examines need for new drugs to treat neglected tropical diseases

Inter Press Service News Agency examines the shortcomings of treatments for neglected tropical diseases - which, according to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), account "for 12 percent of the global disease burden," and 1.3 percent of the new drugs developed between 1975 to 2004.

8 Jul 2009

Merck partners with non-profit for neglected diseases initiative

The pharmaceutical company, Merck, announced Monday it was partnering with the non-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in an effort to improve treatments for neglected tropical diseases (NTD), the AP/CNBC reports.

23 Jun 2009

Distributed drug discovery for neglected diseases

Researchers from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) have developed Distributed Drug Discovery (D3), a new low-cost strategy to accelerate the discovery of drugs to treat neglected diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, leshmaniasis, dengue fever, and Chagas disease.

16 Jun 2009

NIH to develop therapeutics for rare and neglected diseases

The National Institutes of Health is launching the first integrated, drug development pipeline to produce new treatments for rare and neglected diseases. The $24 million program jumpstarts a trans-NIH initiative called the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program, or TRND.

20 May 2009

Staggering new data shows TB-HIV co-infection a bigger threat

The World Health Organization released staggering new data about the threat of tuberculosis and the toll it takes on people with HIV/AIDS today, in recognition of World TB Day.

24 Mar 2009

Many neglected diseases lacking research funding

The first comprehensive survey of global spending on neglected disease R&D, published in this week's PLoS Medicine , finds that just over $US 2.5 billion was invested into R&D of new products in 2007, with three diseases-HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria-receiving nearly 80% of the total

5 Feb 2009

Combo malaria treatment dihydroartemisinin and piperaquine shows promise

The results of two new large scale trials show that the combination of dihydroartemisinin and piperaquine (DHA+PQP) not only is effective against uncomplicated malaria in a way which is comparable to other artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), but it also protects patients against new infections for at least two months after treatment.

19 Jan 2009

Griffith University and Pfizer in new partnership to unlock nature's cure for infections

In the quest to develop the next generation of anti-infective medicine, Griffith University and Pfizer, the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company, announced a leading partnership today.

27 Oct 2008

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide $168.7 million for malaria vaccine research

Bill Gates announced today that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide $168.7 million to PATH for its Malaria Vaccine Initiative to develop vaccines for malaria -- a disease that kills thousands of African children every day.

25 Sep 2008

Genzyme, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Advinus collaborate on malaria initiative

The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotechnology firm Genzyme on Monday announced it will collaborate with the not-for-profit group Medicines for Malaria Venture and the Indian pharmaceutical company Advinus Therapeutics to develop new malaria treatments, the Boston Business Journal reports.

26 Aug 2008

Study reveals cost of stabbings to British health service

Injuries caused by gun and knife crime are costing Britain's National Health Service in excess of £3million a year, new research reveals.

From The University of Manchester 31 Jul 2008

Novel approach to drug insolubility strengthens PolyTherics patent estate

Polytherics Ltd, a biopharmaceutical spin-out company from Imperial College London and the London School of Pharmacy that specialises in the targeted application of polymers to biopharmaceuticals, has announced the grant of a European patent on the application of polymer complexation technology to improve drug efficacy.

28 May 2008

PAHEF discusses neglected diseases and disaster preparedness with innovative leaders

PAHEF is pleased to join Harvard University's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation as a partner in the bi-annual conference Frontiers of Innovation: 20 Years of Innovation in Government held in Cambridge March 31st through today.

4 Apr 2008

Scientists identify potential therapy targets for schistosomiasis

A research team supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has identified chemical compounds that hold promise as potential therapies for schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that afflicts more than 200 million people worldwide.

18 Mar 2008

Discovery of chemical compounds that hold promise as potential therapies for schistosomiasis

17 Mar 2008