Development of Portfolios and Pipelines of Drugs for theTreatment, Prevention and Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases

Prof Kiyoshi Kita

Prof Haruki Yamada
Fumiko Hirabayashi

Prof Simon CroftNTDs – Neglected Tropical Diseases
WHO list 20 diseases (virus, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, helminths, that impact populations in poverty:
Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, dengue and chikungunya, dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease), echinococcosis,
foodborne trematodiases, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, leprosy (Hansen’sdisease), lymphatic filariasis, mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses,
onchocerciasis (river blindness), podoconiosis, rabies, scabies and other ectoparasitoses,
schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, snakebite envenoming, taeniasis/cysticercosis, trachoma,
yaws and other endemic treponematoses.

Organisations focussed on the development of tools to treat, control and prevention ofNTDs and Diseases of Poverty (PDPs – product development partnerships)
 Malaria Venture (MMV), established in 1999
 TB Alliance for drug discovery and development established in 2000
 Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) established in 2003
 Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), established in 2003

DNDi - Delivering better treatments for neglectedpatients
DNDi’s objective is to deliver 25 new treatments forneglected patients by 2028. Since 2003, DNDi has
worked with its worldwide network of partners to: develop two new chemical entities: fexinidazole, thefirst all-oral treatment for sleeping sickness,and ravidasvir, a simple-to-use and affordable
treatment for hepatitis C develop 10 new treatments from existing molecules
and recombining drugs to bring better treatments topatients for malaria, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis,
HIV-visceral leishmaniasis co-infection, andpaediatric HIV

Have PDPs been successful ?
What have they produced over the past 20 years ?
How do we measure that success ?

Taking DNDi as an example:
How many treatment / products have been: Come through the Research & Development process ?
 Come through the Development process ?
 Come though geographic extension ?
How long has the process taken ?
What has been the total cost to the PDP and funders ?
What other impacts have PDPs made on the efforts to develop new treatments ?

Have PDPs been successful ?
What have they produced over the past 20 years ?
How do we measure success ?

Taking DNDi as an example:
How many treatment / products have been: Come through the full Research & Development process ? None so far – acoziborole for HAT close Come through the Development process ?
Drug Combinations, paediatricformulations, new products,
 Come though geographic extension ?
Products used in Asia to use in Africa
How long has the process taken ?
What has been the total cost to the PDP and funders ?

E.g. Fexinidazole 2004 to 2018
Need to be examined

What other impacts have PDPs made on the efforts todevelop new treatments ?

On Pharma, biotech and academic sectors

Additional References
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2021; 115: 169–175 doi:10.1093/trstmh/trab015
The history of the neglected tropical disease movement
David H. Molyneux,, Anarfi Asamoa-Bah, Alan Fenwick, Lorenzo Saviold, and Peter Hotez
Omitted from the published chapter

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Volume 22 | November 2023 | 865–866 | 866https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-023-00167-w
An audience with …
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative’s Delali Attipoe, Director of the non-profit’s North America
branch, discusses the rising risks of climate-sensitive diseases such as dengue.