The award, from the Department of Development Cooperation of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), comes after the Dutch government concluded its presidency of the EU in December and after it commissioned a report entitled “Priority Medicines for Europe and the World,” for the World Health Organization.
Issued in December 2004, the report identifies the global health gaps due to market failures and the lack of ongoing pharmaceutical innovation for neglected diseases. The report recommends increased European investments in R&D for diseases like tuberculosis through public-private partnerships such as the TB Alliance.
This grant comes as several promising compounds approach clinical trials and will help to support the continuous efforts to invigorate the TB drug pipeline. The portfolio includes, among others, a program to advance novel nitroimidazoles, several projects in the fluoroquinolone class of compounds, and earlier discovery projects based on new targets.
“Thanks to the early support of the Dutch government, the TB Alliance has already built and advanced a robust portfolio of promising TB compounds,” said Dr Maria Freire, president and CEO of the TB Alliance. “Now, with this second installment, we will be able to expand the pipeline further and move the best candidates into clinical trials so that the world can benefit from a new, better TB cure.”
Dr Harry van Schooten, senior health adviser for DGIS added, “Since TB is often the first manifestation of AIDS in many HIV positive persons in developing countries, the development of a faster TB cure will also have a positive impact on AIDS control as well as improve health and prosperity worldwide.”
TB Alliance partners include the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases in Singapore, the Korean Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), University of Illinois at Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD), and the Research Triangle Institute.