• DNDi_Logo_No-Tagline_Full Colour
  • Our work
    • Diseases
      • Sleeping sickness
      • Visceral leishmaniasis
      • Cutaneous leishmaniasis
      • Chagas disease
      • Filaria: river blindness
      • Mycetoma
      • Paediatric HIV
      • Cryptococcal meningitis
      • Hepatitis C
      • Dengue
      • Pandemic preparedness
      • Antimicrobial resistance
    • Research & development
      • R&D portfolio & list of projects
      • Drug discovery
      • Translational research
      • Clinical trials
      • Registration & access
      • Treatments delivered
    • Advocacy
      • Open and collaborative R&D
      • Transparency of R&D costs
      • Pro-access policies and IP
      • Children’s health
      • Gender equity
      • Climate change
      • AI and new technologies
  • Networks & partners
    • Partnerships
      • Our partners
      • Partnering with us
    • Global networks
      • Chagas Platform
      • Dengue Alliance
      • HAT Platform
      • LEAP Platform
      • redeLEISH Network
    • DNDi worldwide
      • DNDi Switzerland
      • DNDi DRC
      • DNDi Eastern Africa
      • DNDi Japan
      • DNDi Latin America
      • DNDi North America
      • DNDi South Asia
      • DNDi South-East Asia
  • News & resources
    • News & stories
      • News
      • Stories
      • Statements
      • Viewpoints
      • Social media
      • eNews Newsletter
    • Press
      • Press releases
      • In the media
      • Podcasts, radio & TV
    • Resources
      • Scientific articles
      • Our publications
      • Videos
    • Events
  • About us
    • About
      • Who we are
      • How we work
      • Our strategy
      • Our donors
      • Annual reports
      • Our prizes and awards
      • Our story: 20 years of DNDi
    • Our people
      • Our leadership
      • Our governance
      • Contact us
    • Work with us
      • Working at DNDi
      • Job opportunities
      • Requests for proposal
  • Donate
  • DNDi_Logo_No-Tagline_Full Colour
  • Our work
    • Diseases
      • Sleeping sickness
      • Visceral leishmaniasis
      • Cutaneous leishmaniasis
      • Chagas disease
      • Filaria: river blindness
      • Mycetoma
      • Paediatric HIV
      • Cryptococcal meningitis
      • Hepatitis C
      • Dengue
      • Pandemic preparedness
      • Antimicrobial resistance
    • Research & development
      • R&D portfolio & list of projects
      • Drug discovery
      • Translational research
      • Clinical trials
      • Registration & access
      • Treatments delivered
    • Advocacy
      • Open and collaborative R&D
      • Transparency of R&D costs
      • Pro-access policies and IP
      • Children’s health
      • Gender equity
      • Climate change
      • AI and new technologies
  • Networks & partners
    • Partnerships
      • Our partners
      • Partnering with us
    • Global networks
      • Chagas Platform
      • Dengue Alliance
      • HAT Platform
      • LEAP Platform
      • redeLEISH Network
    • DNDi worldwide
      • DNDi Switzerland
      • DNDi DRC
      • DNDi Eastern Africa
      • DNDi Japan
      • DNDi Latin America
      • DNDi North America
      • DNDi South Asia
      • DNDi South-East Asia
  • News & resources
    • News & stories
      • News
      • Stories
      • Statements
      • Viewpoints
      • Social media
      • eNews Newsletter
    • Press
      • Press releases
      • In the media
      • Podcasts, radio & TV
    • Resources
      • Scientific articles
      • Our publications
      • Videos
    • Events
  • About us
    • About
      • Who we are
      • How we work
      • Our strategy
      • Our donors
      • Annual reports
      • Our prizes and awards
      • Our story: 20 years of DNDi
    • Our people
      • Our leadership
      • Our governance
      • Contact us
    • Work with us
      • Working at DNDi
      • Job opportunities
      • Requests for proposal
  • Donate
Home > About

How we work

Putting patients before profits

Home > About

How we work

Putting patients before profits

  • How we work
  • Our policies

DNDi acts as a conductor of a ‘virtual orchestra’ of over 200 partners around the world to develop treatments for patients – not profits. By bringing together the public, private, academic, non-profit, and philanthropic sectors, we leverage the unique expertise of each partner to drive innovation for neglected populations.

Our not-for-profit R&D model follows six main principles

Needs-driven

We ensure all of our work is rooted in the medical needs of the people we serve – from defining the characteristics needed for new treatments to discovering and developing new drugs and ensuring they are accessible and affordable.

our target product profiles

Independent

We maintain DNDi’s scientific and financial independence in order to set priorities and make decisions according to the best science and the imperative of patients’ needs.

our fundraising model
Hand shake icon

Collaborative, open & transparent

We are committed to sharing research data, knowledge, and costs – and we believe publicly or philanthropically funded R&D ought to be carried out in the public interest and shared as broadly and equitably as possible.

our partnerships

Globally networked

We foster R&D by facilitating scientific exchange, utilising and strengthening research capacity, and nourishing innovation networks – particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

our global networKS
Hand with pills icon

Access-oriented

We make sure the treatments we develop are affordable, available, and adapted to the communities who need them most.

our work in access

Transformative

We pilot and incubate new approaches to innovation, encourage public leadership, and engage as an informed advocate for a more effective and equitable biomedical R&D system.

our advocacy work

A dynamic portfolio

In order to be able to respond to the constant evolution of public health needs, we have adopted a “dynamic portfolio” approach, which allows us to take on new disease areas with various operating models, while delivering on our objectives in diseases that we have worked on since our early days as a public interest R&D organization.  

This approach has enabled DNDi to work on better treatments for mycetoma, paediatric HIV, hepatitis C, and cryptococcal meningitis. It also allows us to contribute through a variety of support models to help meet neglected patients’ needs, from advising on target product profiles and research agendas to coordinating and hosting new partnerships and initiatives.

Our policies

We strive to hold ourselves to the highest standards of accountability, transparency, ethics, and best practice in all we do.

read more

Become a partner

Help us bring the best science to the most neglected.

contact us

Theory of Change

DNDi’s Theory of Change is a strategic framework that outlines how our teams and partners work to achieve our mission of delivering life-saving treatments for neglected patients.

Informed at every step by the needs of neglected people and communities, the roadmap connects DNDi’s activities to the outcomes of our work and our contribution to ensuring better health for neglected populations, expanding universal health coverage, controlling and eliminating diseases, and building more equitable R&D ecosystems.

DNDi utilizes a detailed version of the Theory of Change to facilitate strategic prioritization and the development of indicators for monitoring and evaluation of our programmes.

Latest publications

Loading…
MycetOS-logo
Publications
17 Mar 2025

MycetOS factsheet

Publications
14 Mar 2025

Open Synthesis Network factsheet

Woman scientist with test tube
Publications
13 Feb 2025

Strategic Plan 2021-2028: Mid-Term Review

Women with their children in rural setting
Publications
12 Dec 2024

LEAP Newsletter

See all

Stay connected

Get our latest news, personal stories, research articles, and job opportunities. 

Linkedin-in Instagram Twitter Facebook-f Youtube
International non-profit developing safe, effective, and affordable treatments for the most neglected patients.

Learn more

  • Diseases
  • Neglected tropical diseases
  • R&D portfolio
  • Policy advocacy

Get in touch

  • Our offices
  • Contact us
  • Integrity Line

Support us

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to eNews

Work with us

  • Join research networks
  • Jobs
  • RFPs
  • Terms of Use   
  •   Acceptable Use Policy   
  •   Privacy Policy   
  •   Cookie Policy   
  •   Our policies   

  • Except for images, films and trademarks which are subject to DNDi’s Terms of Use, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Switzerland License