Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited has participated in the establishment as well as contributed to the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), which aims to promote the research and development of new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics in Japan to fight infectious diseases in the developing world.

Over one billion of the world’s poorest of the poor suffer from HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). To eliminate these diseases, highly effective/low-cost medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics are much needed. The GHIT Fund is the first public-private partnership of its kind in Japan to aim to contribute to global health.

The establishment of the GHIT Fund is supported by a consortium of Japanese pharmaceutical companies (Astellas Pharma Inc.; Eisai Co., Ltd.; Shionogi & Co., Ltd.; and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.) including Daiichi Sankyo, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Government of Japan.

As a company with a global operational presence, Daiichi Sankyo is extending its social contribution activities, such as the establishment of mobile healthcare field clinics service in India, Cameroon, and Tanzania, to developing countries with the aim of contributing to the realization of the United Nation’s global Millennium Development Goals. Daiichi Sankyo’s participation in the GHIT Fund is part of its initiative to improve access to medicine in developing countries and contribute to the healthy and fulfilling lives of people throughout the world.