Advances R&D to develop new treatments and interventions Expands and extends donation of deworming medication
January 30, 2012 - London - Today Johnson & Johnson joined
the World Health Organization (WHO), 12 other
pharmaceutical companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the U.S. and U.K. governments, the World Bank,
and officials from endemic countries in a new, coordinated
action to eliminate or control by the end of the decade 10
neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that affect more than a
billion people in the world.
Johnson & Johnson and other partners announced their
commitments at an event today at the Royal College of
Physicians in London, and signed onto the "London
Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases," to pledge new
levels of collaboration and tracking and reporting of
progress.
Johnson & Johnson will work with its partners on
pre-clinical research and clinical development of
flubendazole, a potential new treatment against parasites
that cause lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) and
onchocerciasis (river blindness), two debilitating diseases
for which current treatments do not eradicate the
parasites. Elephantiasis and river blindness are among the
most difficult to treat tropical diseases and afflict
hundreds of millions around the world in Southeast Asia,
sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America and other
tropical countries. The infections are transmitted by
insect bites and caused by adult worms that lodge in the
body and lay millions of larvae in the lymphatic system,
blood and tissues. Current treatments effectively kill only
the larvae, not adult worms, and have serious side
effects.
Flubendazole, originally discovered and developed by
renowned researcher Dr. Paul Janssen, founder of Johnson &
Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutica, is a proven, effective
treatment against intestinal parasites. Unlike drugs that
are currently used to treat parasitic infections affecting
the skin or the eyes, flubendazole has an important
advantage: it kills adult parasites rather than just their
larvae. However, in its current formulation, which is not
absorbable, it is effective only against parasites in the
stomach and intestines, but does not reach parasites lodged
in blood and tissues.
Working in collaboration with other pharmaceutical
partners, Johnson & Johnson will contribute scientific,
supply assistance and technical expertise to Drugs for
Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) to
reformulate flubendazole to enhance its bioavailability in
blood and tissues and conduct pre-clinical testing. The
pre-clinical work was supported by a Gates Foundation grant
to DNDi. Assuming the pre-clinical development is
successful, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to co-fund
clinical development and to collaborate with partners on
clinical trials to develop the reformulated flubendazole.
Johnson & Johnson will also obtain regulatory approval for
this compound.
"Innovation is the heart of our company, and it's critical
to help people live longer, healthier lives," said William
C. Weldon, Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson. "It's our
goal to bring a new, more effective and easier to
administer version of our medicine flubendazole to millions
of people suffering from two neglected tropical diseases,
working with DNDi, the Gates Foundation, and other
pharmaceutical companies."
In addition, through Children Without Worms (CWW), Johnson
& Johnson will extend its donation of mebendazole, a
deworming medication, to treat children with intestinal
worms. Since starting CWW, a partnership between Johnson &
Johnson and The Task Force for Global Health that supports
global efforts to reduce the burden of parasitic infections
in children, Johnson & Johnson has donated more than 150
million doses of mebendazole. In 2010, as part of the
Millennium Development Goals commitment, the company
quadrupled the donation of mebendazole, committing to
provide 200 million doses a year for intestinal worms in
30-40 countries through 2015. Today, it is extending this
commitment through 2020. Together with the 400 million
doses of albendazole donated by GlaxoSmithKline, this will
have huge impact on treating the more than 600 million
children targeted by the World Health Organization
(WHO).
"There is tremendous opportunity to address the gaps that
remain in delivering effective prevention and treatment for
NTDs, and to help the more than one billion of the world's
poorest people affected by them. Meeting the challenge will
require new innovation and greater collaboration," said
Paul Stoffels, M.D., Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals,
Johnson & Johnson. "By working together, by bringing
together the resources of many to create and deliver new
medicines, we can chart a new course toward health and
sustainability among th e world's poorest communities."
As part of the coordinated effort announced today, Johnson
& Johnson also has committed to combating NTDs through
other drug donation and collaborative research and
development initiatives. The company will:
- Continue to explore the development of a new chewable formulation of mebendazole to provide treatment for younger children.
- Share scientific and technical expertise to advance R&D programs, and collaborate on product development. The company is entering into innovative licensing agreements with DNDi to share compounds and knowledge to generate new drugs for river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness, Chagas and visceral leishmaniasis.
- Coordinate operational activities toward the achievement of the 2020 goals through partnership in a collective progress through a NTD scorecard that will regularly and formally track progress, including whether participating organizations are meeting their supply, research, funding and implementation commitments.
These commitments build on Johnson & Johnson's decades of
scientific and philanthropic collaboration that has brought
new research and financial resources to bear against
diseases of the developing world, including a comprehensive
effort launched in 2010 to improve the health of as many as
120 million women and children each year in developing
countries by 2015. Since then, Johnson & Johnson has laid a
strong foundation for measurable impact in several areas to
reduce mortality in women and children, including:
expanding health information for mothers over mobile
phones, helping to increase the number of safe births,
doubling donations of treatments for intestinal worms in
children, helping to ensure that no child is born with HIV,
and furthering research and development of new medicines
for HIV and tuberculosis (TB).
Beyond the commitment to women's and children's health,
Johnson & Johnson is building alliances in prevention,
aligning with the United Nations Secretary General's
call-to-action to address the major causes of chronic,
non-communicable diseases globally.
In recent years the company has:
-
Invested significantly in research and development
against diseases of the developing world including:
- Development of what could be the first new TB drug in 40 years
- New antiretrovirals and a potential preventive compound for HIV
- A partnership with Medivir on treatment and prophylaxis for Dengue fever
- Launched three new medicines against HIV in the past five years and engaged in the development of a treatment requiring only one pill, once a day, in collaboration with Gilead.
- Partnered with the International Partnership on Microbicides to develop a vaginal microbicide against HIV.
- Provided sustainable access to medicines in areas of high burden through voluntary licensing and multiple generic agreements.
- Extended special pricing of Crucell's QUINVAXEM®, the first single-dose, fully liquid vaccine for five of the world's most prevalent childhood diseases. The cornerstone of UNICEF's childhood vaccine program, QUINVAXEM® has helped protect more than 60 million children against Hepatitis-B, Haemophilus influenzae type B, Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis over past five years.
- Donated 690,000 doses of measles and rubella vaccine and 879,000 doses of hepatitis B vaccine.
- Worked toward development of vaccines to address infrastructure barriers such as vaccine storability and administration.
In the last decade, Johnson & Johnson and its operating
companies have provided more than $4.3 billion in grants,
product donations and patient assistance that have touched
the lives of men, women and children throughout the
world.
About Johnson & Johnson
Caring for the world, one person at a time... inspires and
unites the people of Johnson & Johnson. We embrace research
and science - bringing innovative ideas, products and
services to advance the health and well-being of people.
Our approximately 116,000 employees at more than 250
Johnson & Johnson companies work with partners in
healthcare to touch the lives of over a billion people
every day, throughout the world.
For more information, visit www.jnj.com.
# # #
Contact:
Seema Kumar
908-218-6460 or skumar10@its.jnj.com
Diane Pressman
908-927-6171 or dpressm1@its.jnj.com
Pat McCrummen
732-524-1755 or pmccrumm@its.jnj.com
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