In its' short life of five years, DNDi has moved from an organisation mainly funded by one founding partner to an organisation with a diverse pool of 12 donors. In 2003, when DNDi was founded, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as its sole donor provided EUR 25 million in funding to DNDi to be used over five years. That financial contribution of MSF, as well as its operational support over the past five years has been instrumental to give DNDi the independence and flexibility needed for the start-up of the initiative: to support the development of a robust pipeline for the target diseases; to launch its first products and to develop its fundraising capacity. Since 2003 DNDi has been working to diversify its funding to include both a mix of public and private donors and of project, portfolio, and initiative funding.

Encouraging Public Responsibility for Neglected Diseases

In keeping with its objective to raise awareness about the need to develop new drugs for neglected diseases and advocate for increased public responsibility, DNDi has sought pubic funds to support its work. To date, DNDi has secured funding from national and local governments including France, Switzerland, Italy (Region of Tuscany), the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, the USA and the European Union. Through its advocacy activities, DNDi works to mobilize governments and other donors around the world to devote significant and sustainable resources for neglected diseases R&D. In March, PDPs including DNDi made submissions to the WHO Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG), the European Union and G8 Summit stressing the need for R&D and sustainable funding for neglected diseases. While few donors have the mechanisms to support research and development for neglected diseases, DNDi is encouraged by investments from leading donors, and hopes these efforts can convince other policy makers and major donors to fund neglected disease R&D as significant funding is still needed to develop drugs that are safe, effective, and adapted to patients who are affected by neglected diseases.
In March 2008, when receiving funding from the government of Spain, Dr. Pecoul, Executive Director of DNDi, stressed the fact that "by supporting drug research and development, the Spanish government via its funding of DNDi is leading the way in accelerating the fight against neglected diseases. We urge other governments and public institutions to join the fight against these devastating diseases."

Private Fundraising Efforts
To ensure the other 50% of DNDi's funding, DNDi is actively pursuing private funding from its founding partners, foundations and major donors. DNDi is launching a major fundraising effort with the opening of DNDi North America – launched on June 26th 2008 in NYC at the DNDi Stakeholder Meeting – following the history of private philanthropy in the USA. In addition, DNDi is pursuing private funds in the Swiss market where DNDi is headquartered.

Flexible Funding Crucial for DNDi's Mission
DNDi receives project, portfolio and initiative funding for it activities. However, to allow for the greatest flexibility in decision making needed for the R&D portfolio management strategy and to allow great independence in its operations, the DNDi priority is to raise unrestricted initiative funding versus project specific or earmarked funding. In cases where this is not possible, DNDi will pursue project specific or earmarked funding without requirements that may interfere with the objectives for the project.