DNDi is a not-for-profit drug development initiative established in 2003 by four publicly-funded research organisations - Kenya Medical Research Institute, Indian Council for Medical Research, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Brazil, Malaysian Ministry of Health; a private research institute, the Institut Pasteur; an international research organisation WHO's Tropical Diseases Research programme; and an international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières.

DNDi aims to develop new, improved and field-relevant drugs for neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, and Chagas disease that afflict the very poor in developing countries. It will raise awareness of the urgent need to develop drugs for these diseases and use DNDi projects to strengthen existing capacity in disease-endemic countries.