Media Advisory: Invitation to Attend Research Symposium on Development of New Drugs for Neglected Tropical Diseases

Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, a non-profit pharmaceutical organization working to develop new drugs for neglected tropical diseases, will host a public research symposium in New York in conjunction with the opening of its North American regional support office.

WHAT:
"Developing New Treatments for the Most Neglected Diseases Through Global
Research Partnerships"
  -- Scientists, researchers, academics and global health leaders from
     Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America will discuss how
     global research partnerships can deliver powerful new treatments for
     neglected diseases.
  -- Speakers include representatives from DNDi's international partner
     organizations, including an Indian biotech firm and Kenyan and
     Brazilian public health institutions.
  -- DNDi's innovative model for drug development has already brought two
     new malaria drugs to market and yielded the largest portfolio of
     potential new treatments for Chagas disease, sleeping sickness and
     kala azar in the world.

WHEN:
Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 5:30 pm Symposium; 7:00 pm Reception

WHERE:
DNDi North America, located at The New York Academy of Sciences
7 World Trade Center, 40th Floor, 250 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007

WHO:
Keynote Speakers:
  -- Adel Mahmoud, MD, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Molecular Biology and
     Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton
     University, USA
  -- Richard Rockefeller, EdM, MD, Chair, Board of Advisors, Doctors
     Without Borders Médecins Sans Frontières; Chair, Rockefeller Brothers
     Fund, USA

Full Agenda:   http://www.dndina.org/DNDiNA_Agenda_062608.pdf 

For more information or to set up interviews with speakers and panelists, please contact Michelle French at 212-298-3742 or mfrench@dndi.org . If you plan to attend, please reply to mfrench@dndi.org by June 13 to reserve your place.

About DNDi in North America

DNDi's scientific partners in North America are already working on projects, from discovery to clinical trials, to develop new treatments for DNDi's target diseases. For example, an innovative partnership between Pace University and biotech firm Scynexis aims to discover new drugs to treat sleeping sickness. Other partnerships leverage experts and resources from pharmaceutical, biotech and academic institutions, including Anacor, the University of North Carolina, Sandler Center for Basic Research in Parasitic Diseases University of California, San Francisco, McGill University in Montreal, and Tulane University in New Orleans.

In 2007, DNDi was awarded two significant grants from distinguished North American organizations -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. In addition to cultivating relationships with DNDi supporters, DNDi North America advocates for increased R&D and funding for neglected diseases. For more information, please visit http://www.dndina.org .

Media Contact: Michelle French DNDi North America (212) 298-3743 (646) 552-4600 Email: Email Contact