Neglected Tropical Disease

Praziquantel Donation Program

Merck KGaA’s Praziquantel Donation Program, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to fight schistosomiasis in Africa. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic worm disease that is the second most prevalent and devastating parasitic disease in tropical countries after malaria. Infection occurs when human skin comes into contact with fresh water contaminated by snails carrying the schistosome parasites, which migrate through the body and spread the infectious disease. It represents the 2nd most severe burden for African children after malaria, and is considered as one of the most neglected tropical diseases. The consequences of an infection are particularly serious for children, as schistosomiasis stunts growth and cognitive development and also lead to anemia. WHO reports more than 200 million infected people in Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast and the Western Pacific.

Pfizer Collaborative Programs for Parasitic & Worm Diseases

Pfizer is working to advance tropical disease research by providing access to research tools for developing country researchers and large chemical libraries for screening to identify quality lead compounds as starting points for the development of new, improved medicines to fight neglected diseases.

Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD)

The Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) research center focuses exclusively on the discovery of innovative medicines for the treatment of diseases that are endemic to developing countries.

Nifurtimox-Eflornithine for Sleeping Sickness with TDR

Bayer HealthCare and sanofi-aventis provided financial support for development of new therapies for sleeping sickness (Human African Trypanosomiasis or HAT) through the UNDP-World Bank-WHO Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). R&D projects supported include an oral form of eflornithine, manufactured by sanofi-aventis, and a combination of eflornithine and nifurtimox - the active ingredient of Lampit, originally used to treat Chagas disease.

Next-Generation Onchocerciasis Treatment R&D

Evaluation of moxidectin as a potential next-generation treatment for Onchocerciasis (river blindness).

Merck Serono Collaboration with TDR

There is a great need for new medicines for treating tropical disease. Even today, tropical parasitic diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness (HAT) or Chagas disease still represent a major health threat for much of the world's population. They lead to millions of deaths per year and massive socio-economic effects in many countries. New medicines should be focused on the needs of target patients, and be suitable for use in the field. They need to be cost-effective, orally bio-available and stable under extreme conditions of heat and humidity.

Merck Praziquantel Donation Program

In April 2007, Merck signed a partnership agreement with the World Health Organization to supply 200 million tablets of Cesol® 600 (praziquantel) for the treatment and prevention of schistosomiasis over a 10 year period.

Merck Mectizan Donation Program

Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a leading cause of infectious blindness in the developing world. The Merck Mectizan Donation Program (MDP) was launched in 1987, when Merck & Co., Inc. announced that it would donate Mectizan (ivermectin), for the treatment of onchocerciasis to all who needed it for as long as needed.

Merck & Co., Inc. - DNDi Master Agreement

In June 2009, Merck & Co., Inc. and the not-for-profit product development partnership Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced a master agreement to support discovery and development of improved treatments for a wide range of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The agreement covers a wide range of NTDs including visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease that infect millions of people. As with many other NTDs, adequate treatments suitable for poor populations are lacking.

Leprosy Elimination

Novartis is providing free treatment for leprosy patients worldwide through its multi-drug therapy.

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