Millions of people around the world die every year from lack of treatment. Yet only a fraction of the world’s pharmaceutical research and development focuses on diseases affecting poor and vulnerable communities.
When the medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, they dedicated a portion of the award to addressing this fatal imbalance and exploring a new, alternative, not-for-profit model for developing drugs for neglected patients.
In 2003, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, the Kenyan Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), the Malaysian Ministry of Health, and the Institut Pasteur of France, with the participation of the World Health Organization Special Programme on Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR), teamed up with MSF to found the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
We align with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
