Institute for OneWorld Health
Encyclopedia
OneWorld Health is a 501(3) nonprofit drug development organization founded in 2000. Its mission is to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective and affordable new treatments and interventions for people with neglected infectious diseases in the developing countries, with an emphasis on diseases that disproportionately afflict children.
The organization aims to serve as a positive agent for change by saving lives, improving health, and fulfilling the promise of medicine for those most in need. It works with partners around the globe to identify potential new medicines for neglected infectious diseases afflicting vulnerable populations in developing countries, assess the safety and effectiveness of investigational medicines, honor international ethical standards for research, collaborate to manufacture and distribute new medicines, and ensure that medicines will be affordable and available for distribution.
The organization aims to serve as a positive agent for change by saving lives, improving health, and fulfilling the promise of medicine for those most in need. It works with partners around the globe to identify potential new medicines for neglected infectious diseases afflicting vulnerable populations in developing countries, assess the safety and effectiveness of investigational medicines, honor international ethical standards for research, collaborate to manufacture and distribute new medicines, and ensure that medicines will be affordable and available for distribution.
Drug development efforts
Current global initiatives are focused on the following core neglected disease areas:- Cholera and other diarrheal diseases. OneWorld Health has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationBill & Melinda Gates FoundationThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It is "driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family"...
to develop anti-secretory drugs that will synergize with Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) to prevent deaths from neglected diarrheal diseases. OneWorld Health has partnered with global pharmaceutical companies RocheRocheRoche is French for "boulder/rock". The word is several names:-Business & companies:* Hoffmann–La Roche AG, Basel, Switzerland, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world....
and NovartisNovartisNovartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...
for screening promising drug candidates. In 2011, OneWorld Health received U.S> Food and Drug AdministrationFood and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
clearance to proceed to phase 1 trials for its Investigational New DrugInvestigational New DrugThe United States Food and Drug Administration's Investigational New Drug program is the means by which a pharmaceutical company obtains permission to ship an experimental drug across state lines before a marketing application for the drug has been approved...
iOWH032 to treat secretory diarrheas as a result of diseases like choleraCholeraCholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
. OneWorld Health is also working to discover antibacterial compounds for treating bloody diarrhea shigellosisShigellosisShigellosis, also known as bacillary dysentery or Marlow Syndrome, in its most severe manifestation, is a foodborne illness caused by infection by bacteria of the genus Shigella. Shigellosis rarely occurs in animals other than humans and other primates like monkeys and chimpanzees...
, in partnership with Anacor Pharmaceuticals. - Malaria. OneWorld Health works in collaboration with synthetic biology innovator Amyris Inc. and leading pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventisSanofi-AventisSanofi S.A. is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, the world's fourth-largest by prescription sales. Sanofi engages in the research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products for sale principally in the prescription market, but the...
to develop a semisynthetic form of artemisininArtemisininArtemisinin , also known as Qinghaosu , and its derivatives are a group of drugs that possess the most rapid action of all current drugs against falciparum malaria. Treatments containing an artemisinin derivative are now standard treatment worldwide for falciparum malaria...
, whose derivatives are a key component in first-line malaria treatments. The synthetic biology technology is based on pioneering inventions licensed from the University of CA at Berkeley and the NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute in Canada. The collaboration, known as the Artemisinin Project, aims to create a complementary source of non-seasonal, high-quality and affordable artemisininArtemisininArtemisinin , also known as Qinghaosu , and its derivatives are a group of drugs that possess the most rapid action of all current drugs against falciparum malaria. Treatments containing an artemisinin derivative are now standard treatment worldwide for falciparum malaria...
to supplement the current botanical supply, making it more accessible to the hundreds of millions of impoverished people who contract malaria each year. In 2011, after successful completion of the scientific work necessary to enable production of semisynthetic artemisininArtemisininArtemisinin , also known as Qinghaosu , and its derivatives are a group of drugs that possess the most rapid action of all current drugs against falciparum malaria. Treatments containing an artemisinin derivative are now standard treatment worldwide for falciparum malaria...
, OneWorld Health announced that the Artemisinin Project has entered production and distribution phase, with the goal to facilitate integration of semisynthetic artemisininArtemisininArtemisinin , also known as Qinghaosu , and its derivatives are a group of drugs that possess the most rapid action of all current drugs against falciparum malaria. Treatments containing an artemisinin derivative are now standard treatment worldwide for falciparum malaria...
into the supply chain and Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies by 2012. - Kala-azar or Visceral Leishmaniasis. OneWorld Health developed Paromomycin Intramuscular Injection (PMIM) as a safe, effective and affordable treatment for kala-azar. It completed Phase 3 clinical study in India for PMIM as a new treatment for kala-azar. In August 2006, PMIM received regulatory approval by the Drug Controller General of India, and in May 2007, the drug was designated by the World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
for inclusion on its Model List of Essential Medicines. OneWorld Health has completed a major Phase 4 pharmacovigilance study of PMIM for the treatment of kala-azar in India, and conducted field research to understand better the impact of the disease and treatment on rural communities of the State of Bihar in India. OneWorld Health is currently expanding its work into Bangladesh and Nepal. In 2010-2011, PMIM was used in Africa to fight endemic kala-azar. - Helminth. OneWorld Health aims to develop a new safe and affordable drug against soil-transmitted helminthiasis, with a defined access strategy that supports global helminth control efforts. The Helminth Program has worked to establish collaborations with researchers at the Swiss Tropical InstituteSwiss Tropical InstituteThe Swiss Topical and Public Health Institute or Swiss TPH, was founded in 1943 as through the initiative of Professor Rudolf Geigy. He recognised the need to combine sound interdisciplinary research within the context of the social and cultural conditions of an endemic area with training and...
and the University of CA, San Diego, to evaluate potential new anthelmintic drug candidates. The Program has conducted clinical capacity building and epidemiology training at selected sites in India and Vietnam. The training assured that the participants are now better equipped to conduct epidemiological studies. OneWorld Health provided equipment to research institutes in Vietnam to help expand laboratory capacity and aid in the proper diagnosis of helminth infections. - Access Program. OneWorld Health works to ensure that the treatments it develops are available and acceptable to at-risk patients at an affordable cost via private and public sector markets and healthcare systems. This program aims to expand access to drug and diagnostics to patients by conducting epidemiologic and market research into the barriers to access and evaluating delivery models designed to expand access. In 2009, OneWorld Health completed a study in India in collaboration with the government's Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical SciencesRajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical SciencesThe Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences , which is located at Agam Kuan, Patna, Bihar, India is a permanent research institute of the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi and an autonomous body of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.-Location:It...
(RMRIMS) and ten other Indian physicians, to demonstrate how to expand access to PMIM in private health clinics outside of the main urban centers and closer to the rural population most at-risk of kala-azar. Doctors in five districts of the State of Bihar in India were trained to diagnose and treat rural patients on an outpatient basis, while making lodging and a healthy diet available during the course of treatment. The evaluation of the model demonstrated a significant reduction in the delay in time before patients received treatment from a qualified physician and a reduction in their expenditures on ineffective treatments. The Access team, in collaboration with RMRIMS, also completed field research on kala-azar in India. The team conducted a population-based survey of the annual incidence of kala-azar and its economic impact on rural households in one VL-endemic district in the State of Bihar, India.
Major supporters
- Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationBill & Melinda Gates FoundationThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It is "driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family"...
(the Institute received 96% of its funding from the Foundation as of 2006) - UK Department of International Development
- Other funders include AmgenAmgenAmgen Inc. is an international biotechnology company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Located in the Conejo Valley, Amgen is the world's largest independent biotech firm. The company employs approximately 17,000 staff members. Its products include Epogen, Aranesp, Enbrel, Kineret,...
, Chiron CorporationChiron CorporationChiron Corporation was a multinational biotechnology firm based in Emeryville, California that was acquired by Novartis International AG on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. Chiron's business and research was in three main areas:...
, Gap, Lehman BrothersLehman BrothersLehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
, PfizerPfizerPfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
, Vital Spark Foundation, Skoll FoundationJeffrey SkollJeffrey Skoll is a Canadian-born engineer and internet entrepreneur who lives in Los Angeles, California. With an estimated net worth of $US 3.2 billion , Skoll was ranked by Forbes as the 7th wealthiest Canadian and 347th in the world.He was the first employee and also first president of internet...