The partnership will be a not-for-profit, drug-research organization based in Seattle, which will draw upon resources from some of the nation's leading tuberculosis (TB) and infectious diseases drug researchers and organizations, said Eli Lilly.
Lilly is committing $15 million to catalyze the partnership over the next five years and will fund the leasing of laboratory space to host the partnership's drug researchers. Lilly also will equip the facility with high-tech machinery and biological tools used for drug screening and testing. Further, the company will open its library of more than 500,000 Lilly medicinal compounds to researchers, who will test and screen them for possible TB treatments.
Gino Santini, senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development at Lilly, said: “We recognize that new drug research is needed to help save the millions of lives that today are being lost to TB. By merging the resources of the public and private sectors – both scientific and financial – this partnership will serve as a catalyst to advance the early discovery of new medicines for this ancient killer.”
The target growth for the new drug research organization will be to staff up to 25 full-time, highly-skilled drug researchers. This will include a board of directors and steering committee comprised of representatives from Lilly and partnering organizations. It will seek grants and contracts for additional funding with the ultimate goal of becoming self-sustaining.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Foundation for the NIH will partner with Lilly on the project. NIAID's current domestic and international investment in TB research is $120 million.