E-DRUG: Africa's First Clinical Research Facility for Visceral Leishmaniasis
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DNDi Inaugurates Africa's First Clinical Research Facility for Visceral
Leishmaniasis in Ethiopia
Geneva, Switzerland, 6 April 2006: Africa's first clinical research
facility dedicated to visceral leishmaniasis (VL), was inaugurated by
the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) on February 9 in the
presence of the regional authorities of Ministry of Health, and members
from Addis Ababa University (AAU). The Leishmaniasis Research and
Treatment Centre (LRTC) is located in Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia.
"This facility marks an important step in meeting the needs of VL
patients who have been neglected because of a lack of access to
appropriate diagnosis and treatment," remarked Catherine Royce, DNDi
Leishmaniasis Project Manager.
Built by DNDi, with funds provided by the Leopold Bachmann Foundation, a
Swiss philanthropic organization, the LRTC will function both as a
treatment and research facility for patients suffering from VL, also
known as kala-azar. Affecting patients who mostly live in areas where
access to health care is minimal, VL is a deadly disease that claims
thousands of lives a year.
Professor Asrat Hailu, a senior researcher in the Faculty of Medicine at
Addis Ababa University, commented, "In a country where research is not
yet fully considered as a part of the solution to the problems that face
us, and hence where capacity for clinical research is rudimentary, the
roadmap of DNDi could not have been more timely."
The LRTC is part of DNDi's Leishmaniasis East Africa Platform (LEAP)
that brings together a regional group of scientists and institutions
working on developing clinical trial capacity to bring new treatments to
patients suffering from VL. LEAP currently involves clinical trial sites
in 3 countries - Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya.
With an inclusive strategy that utilizes existing expertise in
disease-endemic regions, DNDi currently has eight projects focused on
leishmaniasis - 2 in the early drug discovery stage, 3 in preclinical
studies, and 3 in clinical testing. Because current treatment requires a
30-day course of painful injections given in a hospital, there is a need
for both immediate improvements in terms of availability and cost as
well as longer-term innovation in terms of efficacy and prevention of
resistance.
Bernard Pecoul, Executive Director of DNDi, emphasized, "The goal of
DNDi's portfolio strategy for VL is to work towards a well-balanced
range of projects. We are working to ensure that patient needs are
urgently met with the best science for the most neglected."