Merck takes aim at neglected tropical diseases
pharmafile | June 25, 2009 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Africa, Merck, Orphan
Merck & Co is participating in two projects designed to help improve healthcare in Africa.
The pharma giant will join forces with a not-for-profit body to find new ways of treating neglected tropical diseases (NTD), with an option to develop drug candidates itself.
And it is also funding work into sustainable development in ten African countries by researchers at Columbia University in New York.
Merck will work with the not-for-profit Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) on a wide range of NTDs, including visceral leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and human African trypanosomiasis.
Treatments for these potentially fatal conditions have no commercial viability in the developed world, yet affect millions of people.
In the 30 years to 2004, only 1.3% of new approved drugs were developed for NTDs, even though research suggests they account for 11.4% of the global disease burden.
Dr Shing Chang, research and development director of DNDi, said Merck would "commit themselves through industrial development" to "ensure the best science will be made available to address the needs of the most neglected patients".
In addition to becoming less effective with age, current medications are expensive, hard to administer and have toxicity issues, Merck says.
The manufacturer will contribute small molecule assets and intellectual property as part of a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to DNDi for early development work.
Meanwhile, the Merck Company Foundation's partnership with Columbia University's Earth Institute is aimed at improving rural community health services in countries including Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, said Merck's involvement would help to "advance this programme significantly and create tools that will be useful throughout the world".
At the heart of the scheme is the professional development of 800 community health workers serving 400,000 people.
"Training a professional cadre of community health workers in rural Africa is one of the most immediate and effective ways to reduce needless deaths," says Sachs.
Merck, Schering-Plough tie-up
In a separate development, the US Federal Trade Commission has asked both Merck and Schering-Plough to provide additional information about their proposed merger.
The companies insist this "second request" was expected as part of the regulatory process under US competition law.
The deal is expected to go through by the end of this year.
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