[Ip-health] For Immediate Release: Launch Today of Global Chagas Disease Campaign by DNDi and MSF

[Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative]

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DNDi PRESS RELEASE


For further information or to arrange interviews with Michel Lotrowska or C=
arlos Morel, please contact:

Flavio Guilherme Pontes - DNDi Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, (21) 8123-4133; (21)=
 8298-6294; press@dndi.org.br

Samantha Bolton - DNDi Geneva, Switzerland (41) 79 239 2366, (41) 22 906 92=
50; sbolton@dndi.org.

Michelle French - DNDi New York, USA, (1) 646 616 8681; (1) 646 552 4600; m=
french@dndi.org

Visit Chagas Campaign website: http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php=
?module=3DURLTracker&cmd=3Dtrack&j=3D283663711&u=3D3110710

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FORGOTTEN AND FEW TREATMENT OPTIONS, CHAGAS DEBILITATES AND KILLS

100 years since Chagas disease was discovered,
DNDi launches an international campaign "Wake Up. Time to Treat Chagas Dise=
ase!" with a call for better medicines and treatment of patients

July 9, 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - One hundred years after the discover=
y of Chagas disease, 100 million people remain at risk and the disease cont=
inues to debilitate and kill the poorest of the poor. Drugs for Neglected D=
iseases initiative (DNDi) today, alongside M=E9decins Sans Frontieres (MSF)=
, called on governments, scientific community, private sector and civil soc=
iety to increase their commitment and support for research and development =
for better health tools (diagnostics and treatments) and improved access.  =
.

The global campaign "Wake Up.Time to Treat Chagas Disease!" was launched du=
ring a three-day international scientific conference on the 100th anniversa=
ry of the discovery of Chagas disease, and also comes at the time of a publ=
ication of a series of articles in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases on the =
unfinished public health agenda of Chagas disease.

"We hope this campaign will bring Chagas disease out of the shadows and hel=
ps patients with Chagas disease to gain access to better treatment options,=
 " said Michel Lotrowska, DNDi's Regional Director for Latin America. "Litt=
le public or political capital currently exists for Chagas disease as the d=
isease most affects the most vulnerable populations in some of the poorest =
regions in Latin American countries. Only a global effort can put Chagas di=
sease on the top of national and international agenda."

Few of the millions of patients needing treatment for Chagas disease are ev=
er diagnosed with the disease and receive treatment. When they do, there ar=
e only two medications available - benznidazole and nifurtimox, both of whi=
ch have a number of disadvantages: treatment is long (30 to 60 days), with =
side effects and high rates of patient non-compliance. There is limited eff=
icacy in the advanced stages of the disease, and no pediatric strength or f=
ormulation is currently available.

"This international meeting shows there is renewed interest by scientists a=
nd practitioners to find new and better treatments to fight Chagas, but we =
also need sustainable funding and political commitment to make it," comment=
ed Dr. Carlos Morel, Director of the Center for Technological Development i=
n Health (CDTS) of FIOCRUZ. "We must unite the growing capabilities of deve=
loping countries to combine innovation in health with the scientific advanc=
es being made in research and development at leading institutes worldwide."

As reported in PLoS articles, Chagas disease remains at the top of the list=
 of most neglected diseases today despite improved control and regional res=
earch efforts.1-3 Despite being responsible for one of the highest estimate=
d disease burdens due to infectious diseases in Latin America, Chagas disea=
se received only 0.25% (approximately US$10 million) out of 2.5 billion dol=
lars invested in neglected diseases in 2007.4

The Chagas Campaign launched by DNDi (http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/=
pub.php?module=3DURLTracker&cmd=3Dtrack&j=3D283663711&u=3D3110711), aims to=
 raise awareness of the burden of Chagas disease and calls upon those in po=
wer to foster innovation for this silent disease by supporting innovative p=
artnerships in R&D and facilitating new and sustainable financing mechanism=
s.

 "Chagas patients have been forgotten because they are poor and live in rem=
ote and rural areas, but we see that the science exists to develop better t=
reatments," said Bernard Pecoul, Executive Director of DNDi. "The first ste=
p to making progress at an international level is through sustainable fundi=
ng and strong public support in both endemic and non-endemic countries. The=
 draft resolution on neglected diseases, which is being considered by PAHO/=
WHO this year, is one example where we are moving forward and must follow t=
hrough with concrete action."

#Note for Editors#

About Chagas disease
Chagas is primarily transmitted by large, blood-sucking reduviid insects wi=
dely known as "the kissing bug", Chagas is endemic in 21 countries across L=
atin America, With an average of 14,000 deaths per year, Chagas kills more =
people in the region each year than any other parasite-born disease, includ=
ing malaria. These are mostly poor people who live in rural areas or migrat=
e to the outskirts of larger urban centers and therefore don't represent an=
 attractive enough consumer market for private industry.

Without an adequate diagnosis and treatment, one in every four Chagas patie=
nts develops a fatal symptom of the disease, usually swelling of the heart =
muscle. Often, patients will require a pace-maker and in some cases even ne=
ed to undergo a heart transplant. Many patients, however, die suddenly, som=
e without even realizing that they had been infected.

Children born to mothers who know that they are infected by the Trypanosoma=
 cruzi parasite can benefit the most from treatment and the cure rate is hi=
gh.  Yet, there are no pediatric treatments available that have been adapte=
d to their needs.  Children are treated with adult medication, broken up in=
to as many as 12 pieces, depending on the child's body weight. As the medic=
ation is non-soluble, mothers have to crush the medication to dissolve it i=
n liquid. This not only puts the continuity of the treatment at risk, but a=
lso its safety and efficacy, as it is difficult to ensure a correct dosage.

This problem is beginning to be resolved with the production of pediatric b=
enznidazole that will be available in 2010 thanks to a partnership between =
DNDi and LAFEPE (the pharmaceutical lab of the state of Pernambuco in Brazi=
l), the only producer of benznidazole in the world.

About DNDi
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is a not-for-profit prod=
uct development partnership founded in 2003 by five publicly-funded researc=
h organisations -  Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Indian Council of Medi=
cal Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Malaysian Ministry of Healt=
h, and the Institut Pasteur; an international research organisation WHO's T=
ropical Diseases Research programme; and an international humanitarian orga=
nisation M=E9decins Sans Frontieres. DNDi has developed the largest ever R&=
D portfolio for kinetoplastid diseases and has, with its partners, already =
made available three new treatments for neglected diseases. For further inf=
ormation, please visit http://ent.groundspring.org/EmailNow/pub.php?module=
=3DURLTracker&cmd=3Dtrack&j=3D283663711&u=3D3110712.

This month, in a DNDi has published a policy paper in PLOS NTD outlining th=
e urgent need for new treatments for Chagas disease, examining barriers to =
development and evaluation of new drugs, and reporting on progress in bring=
ing new treatments to patients.  In the short term, DNDi is working on bett=
er use of existing treatments through therapeutic switching, new formulatio=
ns (including the first pediatric formulation of benznidazole), and combina=
tion therapies based on the success of such treatments in HIV/AIDS, malaria=
 and tuberculosis.   DNDi's long-term objectives are to deliver an effectiv=
e, non-toxic, inexpensive treatment proven effective in both acute and earl=
y chronic phases, and to improve research & treatment capacity for Chagas d=
isease.

References
1.=09Franco-Paredes C, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ. The unfinished public health =
agenda of chagas disease in the era of globalization. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2=
009;3(7):e470.
2.=09Ribeiro CH, Lopez NC, Ramirez GA, et al. Trypanosoma cruzi calreticuli=
n: A possible role in Chagas' disease autoimmunity. Mol Immunol. Mar 2009;4=
6(6):1092-1099.
3.=09Yun O, Lima MA, Ellman T, et al. Feasibility, drug safety, and effecti=
veness of etiological treatment programs for chagas disease in honduras, gu=
atemala, and bolivia: 10-year experience of medecins sans frontieres. PLoS =
Negl Trop Dis. 2009;3(7):e488.
4.=09Moran M, Guzman J, Ropars AL, et al. Neglected Disease Research and De=
velopment: How Much Are We Really Spending? PLoS Med. Feb 3 2009;6(2):e30.



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