Novartis Instt for Tropical Diseases opens in Singapore

The institute is focused on advanced biomedical research for diseases like dengue fever and drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB).

Both the diseases are spreading rapidly particularly in the developing world.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

"In every second, someone is infected with TB which has grown to be the third leading cause of death globally for people aged 15-59, while dengue fever infects as many as 50 million people a year, and is endemic in over 100 countries," said Dr Daniel Vasella, chairman of Novartis.

The World Health Organisation has declared drug-resistant TB an urgent health matter with more than 300,000 new cases per year occurring mainly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In the case of dengue fever, there has been no major discovery effort directed to new treatments despite significant unmet medical need.

The NITD is a public-private partnership between Novartis and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Its goal is to have at least two compounds for patients by 2013.

Novartis intends to make these treatments available without profit for countries where these diseases are endemic.