DNDi Annual Report 2022

2022 ANNUAL REPORT

20 YEARS OF
INNOVATING TOGETHER

Foreword

Twenty years ago, our founding partners established DNDi – determined that a collaborative model of not-for-profit pharmaceutical R&D could deliver for neglected patients.

In 2022, our partnerships continued on our path of progress.

2022 in numbers

Clinical trials

27

clinical trials in 8 disease areas, including 18 trials testing new chemical entities

86

clinical trial sites in 28 countries

3,242

patients enrolled in active DNDi clinical studies

Maximizing the partnership model

228

R&D partner institutions in nearly 50 countries

6:1

ratio of partner staff vs DNDi staff worldwide

Fostering sustainable solutions

668

people trained to support clinical research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

82%

of all R&D partner staff are based in low and middle-income countries (LMICs)

5

research networks to strengthen research capacity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Gender and diversity

52%

of DNDi leadership positions held by women

70%

of peer-reviewed scientific articles on DNDi research had at least one author from a partner institution in an endemic country

60%

of peer-reviewed scientific articles had a female first or last author

Sharing knowledge

50

peer-reviewed scientific articles on DNDi research

96%

of peer-reviewed scientific articles published in open-access journals

Finances

€ 75.9 million

in annual expenditure

€ 10.3 million

in in-kind contributions and collaborative funding from partners

91%

of expenditure on social mission to maximize impact for neglected patients

R&D portfolio

34

projects in our R&D portfolio, and an additional 12 projects in the treatment access phase

19

projects focused on identifying or developing new chemical entities

2022 in numbers

EXPLORE NOW: DNDi RESEARCH WORLWIDE

Covid-19 & Pandemic prep

Dr John Amuasi

Kumasi, Ghana

'ANTICOV is a clear demonstration of the capacity in Africa to conduct robust and extremely complex studies.'

Learn about our progress

Chagas disease

Rita Alejandra

Vaca Muerta, Argentina

'My son was tested for Chagas disease and it took three months to receive the result, which was positive. He had to go to Santiago del Estero to receive treatment and it is difficult to travel from our village to the treatment centre.'

Read highlights from Latin America

Leishmaniasis

Dr Juliana Quintero

Medellín, Colombia

'If I could create the ideal treatment for my patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis, it would be a treatment that they can take at home.'

Learn about our progress Watch our short film

Chagas disease

Astrid

Comalito, Jutiapa, Guatemala

'I have heard from people that you die from Chagas and that treatment is terrible. But nurse Esdras told me how important it was to initiate treatment, and that's what I did. Now I am feeling calm.'

Learn about our progress

Sleeping sickness

François

Masi Manimba, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

'I was always agitated. I always wanted to fight with other children and ended up getting into fights at school. I no longer pick fights. I no longer feel like I used to when I had sleeping sickness.'

Learn about our progress

Sleeping sickness

Hélène

Masi Manimba, Democratic Republic of the Congo

'Before, sleeping sickness was a frightening disease. But now that new treatments exist, we just see it as another disease - like malaria. I am very happy that my son can take his treatment at home. It is much simpler'

Read highlights from Africa

Filaria: River Blindness

Dr Jenny Yanga

Democratic Republic of the Congo

'We hope to find a treatment that will finally bring respite to people with onchocerciasis. And we hope that we can administer it in the most remote corners of the DRC, so that no one becomes blind from the disease anymore.'

Learn about our progress

HIV

Zikhona

New Crossroads, Cape Town, South Africa

'I feel absolutely like any other person now. I don't have any fear of getting sick or dying at this point. Having treatment gave me my life back. I am now able to do normal, daily things. I'm so grateful for that.'

Learn about our progress

Mycetoma

Adam Mohamed

Khartoum, Sudan

'I used to enjoy riding bicycles with my brothers. Ever since I got this disease, I have not been able to do anything. I am forced to stay at home.'

Learn about our progress

Leishmaniasis

Tekla

Kacheliba, Kenya

'I am hopeful that this time I will be cured completely and won't have to go through this again. I want to be a doctor to help people from my community who cannot access healthcare.'

Learn about our progress Watch our short film

Leishmaniasis

Shishu Kumari

Bihar, India

'It would be best if patients didn't have to go to hospital and could take their medicine at home. I hope that with ASHAs' hard work, one day visceral leishmaniasis will be eliminated.'

Read highlights from Asia Watch our short film

Hepatitis C

Ng Song Ping

Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

'I had to wait and wait for years, but I was eventually offered treatment. I took it for three months, and the illness is no longer there.'

Learn about our progress Watch our short film

Dengue

Ploypilin

Khlong Toey, Bangkok, Thailand

'I knew there was no treatment for dengue, and I knew it could be deadly. That scared me. Dengue shouldn't be neglected because it can happen to anyone… at any time.'

Learn about our progress

Active clinical sites

Sleeping sickness
Leishmaniasis
Chagas disease
Filaria: River blindness

Mycetoma
HIV
Hepatitis C
COVID-19

EARLY-STAGE RESEARCH SITES

(Drug discovery and pre-clinical development)

RESEARCH PLATFORMS AND NETWORKS

Map boundaries and borders do not reflect any position by DNDi on their legal status

LEARN ABOUT OUR PROGRESS

Read highlights

Our cross-cutting commitments

Advancing gender equity and gender-responsive R&D

Dr Irene Mukui

former Head of HIV and chair of Gender-sensitive R&D and Access Steering Group, DNDi

‘The neglect of women in R&D and access programmes for health is ubiquitous – we have normalized this neglect to the point that we scientists and clinicians accept exclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women from our studies. We must intentionally address this neglect, or it will never change.’

Innovating for children's health

Janice Lee

Senior Manager for Treatment Access and Paediatrics Lead, DNDi

‘Every day, across the globe, those caring for children have to struggle with the fact that many medicines given to the youngest ones are not child-friendly. In neglected diseases, children face double neglect. We need to prioritize children early in the research and development process to ensure their treatment needs are met with safe medicines in appropriate formulations.’

Confronting climate-sensitive diseases and reducing our carbon footprint

Mae Shieh

Head of Business Development and Decarbonization Roadmap Project Lead, DNDi

‘We made a serious commitment in our latest strategic plan to cut our carbon footprint. In 2022, we gathered the data to measure our baseline emissions globally and began the work of developing a quantitative roadmap that will guide us to reach a 50% reduction by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.’

Harnessing AI and new technologies to meet neglected patients' needs

Jadel Kratz

Head of Discovery and R&D Partnerships, DNDi Latin America

‘Together with partners across multiple research areas, we are applying cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence to identify new compounds with the potential to become treatments that make a difference in patients’ lives.’

Advocating for change

Anchored in our mission to respond to the medical needs of neglected populations, DNDi speaks out for the public policies and political will needed to ensure that all people benefit from medical innovation and have equitable access to the fruits of scientific progress.

Drawing lessons from our own experience, our teams spoke out in 2022 to push for open, transparent, and collaborative research and for equitable access to medicines and other health technologies.

Partners

A worldwide footprint anchored in endemic countries

Performance

91% of our expenditure in 2022 was for our social mission

A word of thanks

DNDi has now delivered 12 new treatments for six neglected diseases.

Every contribution is essential to advancing DNDi’s mission and goals.
We are deeply grateful to our donors and partners for their support in 2022.

Photo credits: Matt Bouch-DNDi; Manon Voland-DNDi; Ariane Mawaffo-DNDi; Ana Ferreira-DNDi; Sydelle Willow Smith-DNDi; Diogo Galvão-DNDi; Yaw Afrim Gyebi-DNDi; Xavier Vahed-DNDi; Scholars-DNDi; Kim Cloete-DNDi; Mercy Mumo-DNDi; Lameck Ododo-DNDi; Abang Amirrul Hadi-DNDi; Luke Duggleby-DNDi

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2022 ANNUAL REPORT

20 YEARS OF
INNOVATING TOGETHER

Foreword

2022 in numbers

2022 in numbers