R & D

ViiV Healthcare Collaborative Research Program for Resource-Poor Settings

ViiV Healthcare is committed to the development of new molecules that target unmet medical needs in HIV. The treatment of children with HIV/AIDS remains a significant unmet medical need and there is a pressing need for new medicines to tackle problems such as drug resistance, complex treatment regimens, and side effects associated with current treatments.

TLR9 Inhibitor for Cerebral Malaria

Eisai Co., Ltd.'s ER-820446 is a selective inhibitor of Toll Like Receptor 9 (TLR9) signaling. TLRs are mediators of innate immunity. In vitro, ER-820446 inhibits CpG oligonucleotide (TLR9 agonist)-mediated induction of transcription factors in TLR9 transfected cells and the production of proinflammatory cytokines in dendritic cells. In a short term in vivo model in mice, administration of ER-820446 prevented a systemic cytokine response to a s.c. challenge with CpG oligonucleotide.

Stop TB Partnership

Established in 1998 and hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Stop TB Partnership aims to provide global leadership, strategy, and coordinating mechanisms. The Stop TB priorities are to expand, adapt, and improve strategies to control and eliminate TB in support of the World Health Assembly Targets set by 2005 (70% case-detection and 85% cure-rates) and the Millennium Development Goals. The mission is to ensure that every TB patient has access to TB treatment and cure, to protect vulnerable populations from TB and to reduce the social and economic toll that TB exerts on families, communities and nations.

Singapore Dengue Consortium

The aim of the consortium is to explore ways to understand and better manage dengue infection, and ultimately minimize the incidence of dengue, which has increased in recent years.

Sanofi-aventis: R&D for TB

Sanofi-aventis helps various international organizations such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and US National Institutes of Health (US NIH), the US CDC Foundation, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the TB/AIDS epidemic (CREATE) and the International Consortium for trials of chemotherapeutic agents in tuberculosis (INTER-TB) at St. George's Medical School, in their clinical research into new therapeutic regimens for both latent and active tuberculosis, using Rifapentine and other TB drugs.

Sanofi-aventis: Impact Malaria

The Impact Malaria program embodies sanofi-aventis' longstanding commitment to fight malaria. Sanofi-aventis is researching new treatments that are affordable, adapted to patients' needs, especially children, and can help circumvent growing resistance to existing medicines. The most advanced projects are ferroquine for uncomplicated malaria, developed with Lille University and 'bicationic compounds' for severe malaria with Montpellier University, both in Phase II clinical trials. Upstream projects include development of 'trioxaquins' with Palumed in Toulouse.

Sanofi-aventis Sleeping Sickness Program

Sleeping sickness has reemerged in Africa as a major health threat. In 2001, sanofi-aventis committed USD 25 million over the years 2001-2006 to help the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement a strategy of adequate medicine supplies, disease surveillance and management, plus R&D for new treatments. After five years, WHO and sanofi-aventis' efforts were estimated to have saved 110,000 lives. In 2006, the company renewed its contract with the WHO and expanded it to address several additional 'most neglected diseases' (see separate entry).

Sanofi-aventis - Semisynthetic Artemisinin Project

In March 2008, sanofi-aventis entered into a partnership with the Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH) and Amirys Biotechnologies, a US synthetic biology company, to develop semisynthetic artemisinin for use in the Artemisinin-Combination Therapies (ACTs) now recommended by WHO as first-line treatment for malaria. This collaboration aims to create a complementary source of non-seasonal, high-quality and affordable artemisinin to supplement the current botanical supply, thereby enabling millions of people infected with malaria to gain consistent access to lower-cost, life-saving ACTs.

Sanofi-aventis - DNDi Malaria Medicine

In April 2005, sanofi-aventis signed an agreement with Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) to develop a new medicine against malaria, in response to a call from the World Health Organization (WHO) for malaria be treated by drug combinations to combat resistance. DNDi and sanofi-aventis have developed a fixed-dose combination (FDC) of two antimalarial compounds, artesunate and amodiaquine (ASAQ) that is easier to use and more affordable than any other combination currently available.

Ranbaxy R&D for TB

In collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology of the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology, Ranbaxy has dedicated resources to explore its compound library to find molecules that may show activity against tuberculosis. Studies are also being conducted to determine the mode of action for identified compounds. Once a hit is identified, it can be optimized to develop a clinical candidate. All studies are conducted in a BSL3 facility funded by the Indian Government. Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. of Japan took a majority stake in Ranbaxy in 2008.

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