TOKYO, Japan I November 8, 2013 I Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) announced today that it has entered into a global agreement with the Broad Institute (Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, “Broad”), a collaborative research facility that includes researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to jointly discover and develop new therapeutic agents for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and tuberculosis.
Under the agreement, Eisai and Broad will collaborate together on drug discovery initiatives toward novel treatments for NTDs and tuberculosis through optimization of compounds screened from Broad’s chemical library. The first project will conduct drug discovery research aimed at the creation of a novel treatment for Chagas disease, an NTD. Chagas disease is transmitted by the bite of the assassin bug or vinchuca and is particularly endemic in poorer areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Approximately 8 million people are believed to carry the disease and 100 million people are estimated to be living in endemic areas. In Latin America alone, about 14,000 people die from Chagas disease on average each year, meaning that the development of a novel treatment for this disease exists as a high unmet medical need.
This first project for the treatment of Chagas disease has also been awarded a grant for partial funding by the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), an international nonprofit organization (NPO) that aims to promote the discovery of new health technologies from Japan for eliminating infectious diseases prevalent in developing countries. Eisai and Broad will use the grant toward the project’s implementation.
Eisai is committed to contributing to the improvement of public healthcare for people in emerging countries and the developing world and the expansion of economic development, the middle class and other factors that benefit those regions. The company considers this commitment as a long-term investment in its future and as such is an active participant in initiatives that focus on overcoming issues related to access to medicines in order to combat infectious diseases, including NTDs. In addition, Eisai is moving ahead with multiple new drug development projects targeting malaria and NTDs such as Chagas disease and the leishmaniases, based on its partnerships with international NPOs such as the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Sabin Vaccine Institute as well as Brazil’s national research agency, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.
The company remains actively committed to continuing the above and other initiatives to ensure access to medicines in emerging and developing countries in order to better contribute to increasing the benefits provided to patients and their families throughout those regions.
SOURCE: Eisai
Post Views: 121
TOKYO, Japan I November 8, 2013 I Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) announced today that it has entered into a global agreement with the Broad Institute (Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, “Broad”), a collaborative research facility that includes researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to jointly discover and develop new therapeutic agents for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and tuberculosis.
Under the agreement, Eisai and Broad will collaborate together on drug discovery initiatives toward novel treatments for NTDs and tuberculosis through optimization of compounds screened from Broad’s chemical library. The first project will conduct drug discovery research aimed at the creation of a novel treatment for Chagas disease, an NTD. Chagas disease is transmitted by the bite of the assassin bug or vinchuca and is particularly endemic in poorer areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Approximately 8 million people are believed to carry the disease and 100 million people are estimated to be living in endemic areas. In Latin America alone, about 14,000 people die from Chagas disease on average each year, meaning that the development of a novel treatment for this disease exists as a high unmet medical need.
This first project for the treatment of Chagas disease has also been awarded a grant for partial funding by the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), an international nonprofit organization (NPO) that aims to promote the discovery of new health technologies from Japan for eliminating infectious diseases prevalent in developing countries. Eisai and Broad will use the grant toward the project’s implementation.
Eisai is committed to contributing to the improvement of public healthcare for people in emerging countries and the developing world and the expansion of economic development, the middle class and other factors that benefit those regions. The company considers this commitment as a long-term investment in its future and as such is an active participant in initiatives that focus on overcoming issues related to access to medicines in order to combat infectious diseases, including NTDs. In addition, Eisai is moving ahead with multiple new drug development projects targeting malaria and NTDs such as Chagas disease and the leishmaniases, based on its partnerships with international NPOs such as the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Sabin Vaccine Institute as well as Brazil’s national research agency, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.
The company remains actively committed to continuing the above and other initiatives to ensure access to medicines in emerging and developing countries in order to better contribute to increasing the benefits provided to patients and their families throughout those regions.
SOURCE: Eisai
Post Views: 121
