Fighting diseases of poverty: Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi)

Neglected tropical disease (NTDs) are a diverse group of infectious disease that prevail in tropical and subtropical areas in 149 countries and affect more than one billion people. Each year, more than 6 million people in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) still die from NTDs for which vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tests are either ineffective or completely lacking.

DNDi is a Geneva-based not-for-profit research organization developing new treatments for neglected patients, strengthening research capacity in low-income countries, and advocating for innovation and access. SDC is supporting DNDi’s work since 2005. DNDi fosters collaborations among key actors in countries affected by these diseases, including health ministries, national disease control programmes, medicine regulatory authorities, WHO, academia, and civil society groups, as well as clinicians and health professionals. These partnerships also enable DNDi to develop treatments that respond to the specific needs of the affected communities and to deliver the treatments patients need. Since 2003, DNDi has developed 8 treatments for 5 deadly diseases (sleeping sickness, malaria, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and pediatric HIV), saving millions of lives. Swiss actors such as research institutions (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Insitute) and pharmaceutical companies (Roche, Novartis among them) are key partners of DNDi.

Develop new and improve existing treatments for neglected tropical diseases, in order to reduce their global burden and to save lives and improve the quality of life for patients and populations at risk.

The specific objective is to deliver 11 to 14 new treatments between 2021-2028 (7-8 additional treatments anticipated in 2020-2023). 

First beneficiaries: one billion people worldwide affected by NTDs, mainly in Africa and mostly those living in remote rural areas, urban slums or conflict zones.

Second beneficiaries: local clinicians, scientists, and experts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Outcome 1: Regulatory approval and treatments registration in LMICs. New treatments are adopted and are part of the treatment guidelines.

Outcome 2: International organisations, governments, and Ministries of Health contribute to and are using R&D evidence to support policy change and treatment adoption and implementation, changing the way disease are managed, controlled and/or eliminated.

Outcome 3: Treatments are available at scale for patients in all communities at risk including women and children

Outcome 4: Treatments supporting efficient delivery health systems/models

Outcome 5: Sustainable R&D expertise in LMICs adaptable and usable for other poverty-related infectious diseases 

Resultados previstos:  

- Deliver 11-14 new treatments between 2021-2028

- Conduct half of first-in-human Phase I studies
in LMICs

-  Develop and implement robust access strategies
with LMIC partners to ensure that new treatments
reach affected patients and communities.

- Contribute to and influence global, regional, and
national debates to foster R&D policies and practices
conducive to needs-driven innovation and access to
essential health technologies in LMICs. 

Resultados de las fases anteriores:  

·  2018-2019: Development and registration of fexinidazole, a new treatment for sleeping sickness which is the first all-oral treatment, simplifying the medical and logistics aspects for patients, medical staff and health systems

·  2020: Advance towards oral leishmaniasis therapies for sustainable elimination of the disease in South Asia and control in Africa and Latin America,

·  2017: Approval of the first drug to treat Chagas disease

·  2019: Preparation for registration of a new treatment (ravidasvir) for Hepatitis C Virus in Malaysia and Argentina

·  2019: Development and rolling out of optimal child‑friendly antiretroviral formulations for kids living with HIV

- 2016: Successful launch of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP)