The Department of Development Cooperation of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS), the leading Dutch government agency for foreign assistance, awarded in February a grant of 2 million euros to the TB Alliance to develop faster-acting and affordable new tuberculosis (TB) drugs.
“By maintaining its support for the TB Alliance, the Dutch Government reaffirms its commitment for the Millennium Development Goals and the necessity of faster-acting TB treatments to help reverse the incidence of disease,” said Dr. Harry van Schooten, Senior Health Adviser for DGIS. “Since TB is often the first manifestation of AIDS in many HIV+ persons in developing countries, the development of a faster TB cure will also have a positive impact on AIDS control as well as improve health and prosperity worldwide.”
"Thanks to the early support of the Dutch government, the TB Alliance has already built and advanced a robust portfolio of promising TB compounds,” said Dr. Maria C. Freire, President and Chief Executive Officer of the TB Alliance. “Now, with this second installment, we will be able to expand the pipeline further and move the best candidates into clinical trials so that the world can benefit from a new, better TB cure."
This award comes after the Dutch government concluded its presidency of the European Union (EU) in December and after it commissioned the Report “Priority Medicines for Europe and the World,” for the World Health Organization. Issued in December 2004, the report identifies global health gaps due to market failures and the lack of ongoing pharmaceutical innovation for neglected diseases. The report recommends increased European investments in research and development for diseases like tuberculosis through public-private partnerships such as the TB Alliance.
“This is also a win-win partnership -- the Dutch government has created a strong track record in supporting innovative global health solutions, and the TB Alliance has shown tremendous progress in creating and advancing the TB drug pipeline,” said Dr. Gijs Elzinga, Deputy Director-General, Netherlands' National Institute of Public Health and the Environment RIVM and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the TB Alliance.
This grant comes as several promising compounds approach clinical trials and will help to support the continuous efforts to invigorate the TB drug pipeline. The portfolio includes, among others, a program to advance novel nitroimidazoles, several projects in the fluoroquinolone class of compounds, and earlier discovery projects based on new targets. The funds from DGIS will help ensure that the TB Alliance's achievements to date translate into faster-acting drugs for tuberculosis and help advance global health and prosperity.
The TB Alliance operates with public and philanthropic funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development, the Netherlands Ministry for Cooperation Development, the National Institutes of Health and the Stop TB Partnership. The TB Alliance was created in 2000 by a global network of Stakeholder institutions, including the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, the European Commission and Médècins Sans Frontières, which called for the urgent development of an affordable and improved TB treatment to reduce treatment duration from 6 months to 2 months or less.