DNDi welcomes the renewal of the GHIT Fund commitment to leishmaniasis and mycetoma projects

31 Oct 2017

DNDi is very pleased to announce the renewed commitment of the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT), its donor since 2013, to DNDi projects on leishmaniasis and mycetoma disease. This new funding will support:

the pre-clinical development of CpG-D35 for a combination treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis. With its Japanese partner GeneDesign, Inc., DNDi will be granted EUR 3.727 million (¥ 491,867,214) over two years. The pre-clinical study aims to assess whether CpG-D35 can stimulate the innate immune system to fight the parasitic infection causing CL, as an adjunct to drug therapy;
the Phase II/III clinical study of fosravuconazole to treat mycetoma. With its Japanese partner Eisai Co. Ltd, DNDi will be granted EUR 1.914 million (¥ 252,621,720) over two years. The clinical trial conducted in Sudan at the Mycetoma Research Centre aims to study the efficacy of fosravuconazole – discovered by Eisai and under development for Chagas disease – compared to the current treatment, itraconazole.

‘We are honored that GHIT pursues its collaboration and financial support with us and are hopeful that these projects will bring progress to patients who are in need of effective, safe, and affordable treatments’, comments Bernard Pécoul, Executive Director of DNDi.

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About cutaneous leishmaniasis

Although cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is not life-threatening, it can have devastating effects on local communities. Indeed, the disfiguring lesions it causes can lead to affected persons being stigmatized, with consequences such as ostracism, impaired education, and economic loss – all of this in populations with already limited resources. It can become disseminated and produce generalized debilitating disease in immunosuppressed persons (e.g. HIV-affected patients).

About mycetoma

Mycetoma is characterized by devastating deformities, disability, and high morbidity. It causes stigma and has a serious negative socio-economic impact on those affected. The exact route of infection is unknown. While mycetoma is endemic in many tropical and subtropical regions, there is only scant data on incidence and prevalence. Treatment for eumycetoma, the fungal form of the disease, requires prolonged courses of ineffective, prohibitively expensive antifungals which have serious side effects, followed by extensive and often destructive surgery (amputation).

Read previous press releases on GHIT support to DNDi projects:

Photo credit: Abraham Ali/Imageworks-DNDi