December 12, 2007 DNDi Receives Grant to Develop New Medicines for Neglected Diseases

GENEVA -- The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has received a $25.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to research and develop new medicines to treat human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, and visceral leishmaniasis (VL).

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant will help DNDi fill critical gaps in the HAT and VL drug development pipelines by supporting our lead optimization drug discovery programs for HAT and VL, which will in turn fuel our drug development projects," stated Dr. Bernard Pecoul, executive director of DNDi. "With the goal of providing better, low-cost treatments, we are intensifying neglected diseases research and are endeavoring to rekindle the hopes of the many people who suffer from these diseases in the poorest regions of the world."

To read the full press release, visit the DNDi Web site.

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.