Takeda Announces its Participation in Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) for the Second Phase Replenishment
Takeda Announces its Participation in Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) for the Second Phase Replenishment
- Leverage Japanese expertise and capacity for life-saving health innovations
- Reinforce Takeda's Commitment to Global Health
Osaka, Japan, June 1, 2017 --- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502) today announced that it has participated in Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) for the second phase replenishment to leverage its activities for acceleration of Japanese innovation for infectious diseases of the developing world. Takeda committed US$5 million*1 to support GHIT Fund for the next 5 years (FY2018 to FY2022) together with a cross-sector group of funding partners. Total committed funding by funding partners for GHIT Fund replenishment for the next 5 years is over US$200 million*1.
Takeda is making efforts to overcome global health challenges including Access to Medicines. Takeda will continue to contribute to global health by further strengthening its initiatives to establish partnerships for increasing access to medicines as well as to drive innovation through the GHIT Fund replenishment.
The GHIT Fund launched in 2013 to leverage Japanese expertise and capacity for life-saving health innovations, including drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics, to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) prevalent in the developing world. A public interest corporation registered in Japan, the GHIT Fund is the first international public-private partnership between the Japanese Government: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, private companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and United Nations Development Programme.
With support from the GHIT Fund, Takeda has been working with Product Development Partners (PDP)*2 including Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), aiming to discover and develop innovative treatments for infectious diseases particularly prevalent in developing countries, such as malaria, leishmaniasis and tuberculosis since Takeda's participation in the GHIT Fund in 2013.
*1 The exchange rate of USD1=JPY100
*2 Structures which advance developments of vaccines or new drug candidates through collaboration with private organizations, international organizations, and governments of developed and developing countries and charities, etc.
About Global Health Innovative Technology Fund
The first of its kind in Japan, the GHIT Fund is a public-private partnership between the Japanese government, multiple pharmaceutical companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and UNDP. Launched in April 2013 with an initial commitment of more than US$100 million and now with capital of US$145 million, the organization taps Japanese research and development (R&D) to fight neglected diseases. GHIT Fund invests and manages a portfolio of development partnerships aimed at neglected diseases that afflict the world’s poorest people. GHIT Fund mobilizes Japanese pharmaceutical companies and academic and research organizations to engage in the effort to get new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic tools to people who need them most, with Japan quickly becoming a game-changer in global health. www.ghitfund.org
About Funding Partners for GHIT Fund’s Second Phase (FY2018 – FY2022)
Full Partners: Government of Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Astellas Pharma Inc., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, Eisai Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Corporation, Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
Associate Partners: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Sysmex Corporation
Affiliate Partners: GlaxoSmithKline K.K., Johnson & Johnson, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., Merck KGaA, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd.
About Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
According to the World Health Organization, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of communicable diseases that prevail in tropical and subtropical conditions in 149 countries and affect more than one billion people, costing developing economies billions of dollars every year. They mainly affect populations living in poverty, without adequate sanitation and in close contact with infectious vectors and domestic animals and livestock. NTDs are a group of 18 infectious diseases – Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, Dengue/Chikungunya, Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease), Echinococcosis, Foodborne trematodiases, Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), Leishmaniasis, Leprosy (Hansen's disease), Lymphatic filariasis, Mycetoma Onchocerciasis (river blindness), Rabies, Schistosomiasis, Soil-transmitted helminthiases, Taeniasis/Cysticercosis, Trachoma, Yaws (Endemic treponematoses).
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. www.gatesfoundation.org
About Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. They support bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine. Their investment portfolio gives them the independence to support such transformative work as the sequencing and understanding of the human genome, research that established front-line drugs for malaria and Wellcome Collection, their free venue for the incurably curious that explores medicine, life and art. www.wellcome.ac.uk
About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502) is a global, R&D-driven pharmaceutical company committed to bringing better health and a brighter future to patients by translating science into life-changing medicines. Takeda focuses its research efforts on oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system therapeutic areas. It also has specific development programs in specialty cardiovascular diseases as well as late-stage candidates for vaccines. Takeda conducts R&D both internally and with partners to stay at the leading edge of innovation. New innovative products, especially in oncology, central nervous system and gastroenterology, as well as its presence in emerging markets, fuel the growth of Takeda. Around 30,000 Takeda employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients, working with our partners in health care in more than 70 countries.
For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com/newsroom/
Media Contact:
Kazumi Kobayashi
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+81 (0) 3-3278-2095
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