GHIT Fund [to 2 April 2016]
https://www.ghitfund.org/
GHIT was set up in 2012 with the aim of developing new tools to tackle infectious diseases that devastate the world’s poorest people. Other funders include six Japanese pharmaceutical companies, the Japanese Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

.
2016.03.31 Press Room
GHIT Fund Announces New Investments, Including Innovative Malaria Vaccine Targeting Two Deadliest Strains of the Disease
Approach shows promise for achieving malaria eradication and tackling rapidly spreading malaria drug resistance; GHIT also announces investments in malaria and tuberculosis diagnostics and new treatments for leishmaniasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis

TOKYO, JAPAN (March 31, 2016)—The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) announced today that it’s investing US$1,383,785* in a pair of innovative malaria eradication tools—a vaccine that could block transmission of two species of the deadly disease and a rapid field test that can reveal a malaria infection in minutes.

“We will not be able to eradicate malaria if we can’t interrupt disease transmission,” said GHIT Fund Executive Director & CEO Dr. BT Slingsby. “And that will require two essential tools: vaccines that interrupt the parasite’s constant movement between humans and mosquitos, and simple, rapid diagnostic tests that allow us to identify and treat asymptomatic persons who are silently carrying and spreading malaria parasites.”

The GHIT Fund also revealed that it’s investing US$2,160,577 to accelerate development of a new diagnostic test for tuberculosis (TB), which has now overtaken HIV as the leading cause of death from infectious disease. In addition, GHIT will provide US$1,690,711 to develop treatments for two neglected tropical diseases that torment billions: leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by sand flies that, in the cutaneous forms, causes disfiguring skin ulcers, and in the visceral form can lead to fatal organ failure, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis infections, which are caused by parasitic worms that plague two billion people worldwide and routinely lead to physical and cognitive impairments in children.

“Our new investments in malaria and these neglected tropical diseases send a clear message that GHIT and Japan are committed to employing the most innovative and advanced R&D tools available to save lives and improve health in the developing world,” Dr. Slingsby said…