To develop fexinidazole, DNDispent EUR 55 million (USD 62.5 million), which includes costs related topre-clinical development and clinical studies. The project was supported by seven European countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the UK) as well as private donors including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Médecins Sans Frontières.
About sleeping sickness
The majority of sleeping sickness patients are reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 78% ofTrypanosoma brucei gambiense sleeping sickness cases were reported in 2017, followed by the Central African Republic, Guinea and Chad. The latest data released by the WHO in July 2018 confirm a sustained decrease in the number of new cases. Only 1,447 new cases were reported to the WHO in 2017 compared to 2,164 cases in 2016 and 9,870 cases in 2009. But the history of sleeping sickness is marked by resurgence, interspersed by decades where the disease has seemed largely under control. In its roadmap on neglected tropical diseases published in 2012 and supported the same year by the London Declaration, the WHO identified sleeping sickness as a public health problem, and targets its elimination by 2020.
About DNDi
Anot-for-profit research and development organization, DNDi works to deliver new treatments for neglected diseases, in particular human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, filarial infections, mycetoma, paediatric HIV, and hepatitis C. NECT is one of the seven treatments delivered by DNDi since its inception in 2003. Fexinidazole is the first new chemical entity to be successfully developed by DNDi.
DNDi’s fexinidazole programme is supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA; UK aid, UK; Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), The Netherlands; Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through KfW, Germany; French Development Agency (AFD), France; German International Cooperation (GIZ), Germany; Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), France, Médecins sans Frontières; Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), Norway; Republic and Canton of Geneva, Internal Solidarity Office, Switzerland; Spanish Agency for International Development and Cooperation (AECID), Spain; Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Switzerland; UBS Optimus Foundation, Switzerland; Brian Mercer Charitable Trust, UK; Stavros Niarchos Foundation, USA and other private foundations and individuals from the HAT campaign.
| | |
About Sanofi Sanofi is dedicated to supporting people through their health challenges. We are a global biopharmaceutical company focused on human health. We prevent illness with vaccines, provide innovative treatments to fight pain and ease suffering. We stand by the few who suffer from rare diseases and the millions with long-term chronic conditions. With more than 100,000 people in 100 countries, Sanofi is transforming scientific innovation into healthcare solutions around the globe. Sanofi, Empowering Life | | |