We are partnering with dengue-endemic countries to find a safe, affordable, and effective treatment for dengue. Through this global collaboration we are working on joint projects to advance the pre-clinical development of new drug candidates and run clinical trials to test the most promising ones.
Dengue is mostly spread by the bite of the Aeades aegypti mosquito. Some people have no symptoms, but dengue can also cause flu-like symptoms including fever, nausea, vomiting, rashes, eye pain and muscle, joint, or bone pain. There are no specific drugs to treat dengue, and there is only limited use of vaccines. The lack of treatment options increases the risk of developing severe dengue – which is potentially fatal.
Dengue is the most widely distributed and rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world, fuelled by climate change, rapid urbanization and population growth. Dengue is classified by the World Health Organization as one of the top ten threats to public health.
‘It’s everywhere and there’s nothing we can do about it.’
What we have achieved
We are bringing together partners in dengue-endemic countries to find urgently needed treatments for dengue.
Launched in 2022, the Dengue Alliance is a global partnership led by institutions from dengue-endemic countries and DNDi that aims to develop affordable and accessible treatments for dengue.
What we’re doing for people with dengue
Together with our partners, we have started preclinical studies and will be starting clinical trials aiming to deliver an affordable and accessible treatment within five years. We are also working together on diagnostics and regulatory and access strategies, as well as jointly raising funds and mobilizing resources.
DNDi and our partners are prioritizing drug development for dengue with a focus on pregnant women, young children, and people with comorbidities. In the short term, we are working to repurpose existing direct-acting antivirals and host-directed therapies. Our aim over the medium term is to develop all-new antivirals.
DNDi and partners will undertake a retrospective dengue seroprevalence study in Senegal and in selected cities in Ghana and DRC. A second element of this project is to update the global burden of dengue, including new estimates from the surveys in Africa and other estimates generated after literature review.
Scientists from DNDi and BenevolentAI use an artificial intelligence-driven approach to interrogate the underlying mechanisms involved in dengue and rapidly identify therapies that could be repurposed to prevent progression to severe dengue.
Dengue news & resources
Making medical history for neglected patients
We develop urgently needed treatments for neglected patients and ensure they’re affordable, available, and adapted to the communities who need them
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