GHIT Fund [to 11 June 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.

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2016.06.06 Press Room
GHIT Fund Welcomes Ten New Partnerships With FUJIFILM, Otsuka, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Merck, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Nipro, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and Salesforce.com
Expansion will allow continued investments in R&D for neglected diseases, which in just three years has led to over 60 funded partnerships for the product development of new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, seven of which have entered clinical trials

TOKYO, JAPAN (June 6, 2016)—The Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) today welcomed ten new partnerships that include major global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies—collaborations that will expand investments into research and development (R&D) for neglected diseases worldwide, many of which have already begun to show progress in clinical trials.

The new collaborations include a full funding partnership with FUJIFILM Corporation, an associate partnership with Otsuka Pharmaceutical, affiliate partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Merck, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Nipro Corporation, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, and a sponsorship from Salesforce.com.

“We are excited to welcome these new funding partners—from within Japan and across the globe—who have joined forces with the GHIT Fund because of their own unique commitments to global health, as well as their confidence that working together will transform R&D,” GHIT Fund CEO Dr. BT Slingsby said. “The partnerships will not only broaden our scope, but also increase our ability to reach the world’s most vulnerable people with lifesaving technology.”

GHIT’s announcement today also marks its third year investing in R&D for neglected diseases, having now allocated more than US$60 million into upwards of 60 collaborations for product development. Of these investments, 23 have resulted in partnerships to screen Japan’s unique compound libraries, resulting in 18 potential drug candidates. GHIT grants in 2015 alone have also led to five projects advancing into its innovative hit-to-lead platform (HTLP), as well as four novel candidates entering clinical trials for the first time—two in Phase I (first-in-human) and two in Phase II (including one proof-of-concept)…