The Japanese corporation Daiichi Sankyo RD Novare and the not for profit research and development organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) are pleased to announce the financial support of the Japan Global Health Innovative Technology Fund to their new collaboration on natural products, with a grant of EUR 90’000/JPY 11.9 million.
The objective of the project is to screen the DS RD Novare natural products collection (30’000 samples) against visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease pathogens and identify hit compounds to be optimized into new drug candidates for these diseases. The screening will be performed by DNDi’s partner Institut Pasteur Korea.
So far, natural products remain a largely underexplored avenue in the field of kinetoplastid diseases, whereas they have provided game-changing therapies for other neglected diseases, such as ivermectin for river blindness or artemisinin for malaria.
***
Contact
About DNDi
A not-for-profit R&D organization, DNDi works to deliver new treatments for neglected patients living with leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, specific filarial infections, mycetoma, paediatric HIV, and hepatitis C. DNDi is actively engaged in developing new treatments and screening new compounds, notably for Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. www.dndi.org
About Daiichi Sankyo RD Novare
Daiichi Sankyo RD Novare is a Japanese corporation functioning as a global research and development platform for DAIICHI SANKYO group companies. Our missions are implementing therapeutic area independent innovative technologies for early stage drug discovery and high-quality streamlined processes for clinical development. www.daiichisankyo-rdn.co.jp/en/index.html
Photo credit: Fábio Nascimento-DNDi
