The Institute for OneWorld Health (iOWH), the first US non-profit pharmaceutical company has been awarded a grant of $46 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its unique research on new treatments to complement traditional approaches for fighting diarrhoea. The announcement was made at Forum 10, the Global Forum for Health Research's annual meeting in Cairo, Egypt. OneWorld Health is a non-profit pharmaceutical company headquartered in San Francisco.

Diarrhoeal diseases are a leading cause of death in children under the age of five worldwide, killing more than 2 million children and contributing to the deaths of an additional 4 million children each year. Diarrhoeal diseases are caused by a wide range of bacterial, parasitic and viral pathogens, some of which result in rapid fluid loss, and can lead to severe dehydration and death.

OneWorld Health's research aims to develop new treatments for secretory diarrhoeal disease, particularly anti-secretory drugs that inhibit the loss of fluid in the intestine. These drugs are designed to be used as an adjunct to oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for the treatment of life-threatening enterotoxigenic E. Coli (ETEC) and cholera, which are responsible for nearly 40 per cent of reported cases of diarrhoea disease.

"Our novel approach to reducing dehydration with new medicines for diarrhoeal diseases could save many lives," said Dr Victoria Hale, Founder and CEO of OneWorld Health. "This is an essential part of our goal of developing safe, effective and affordable drugs for neglected diseases in developing countries."

Dr Regina Rabinovich, director of infectious diseases for the Gates Foundation, said: "Childhood diarrhoea is one of the world's most serious global health problems and also one of the most overlooked."

OneWorld Health is assembling a portfolio of product candidates to address various aspects of secretory diarrhoeal diseases, with a special focus on treatments for young infants and children. The iOWH's approach to anti-diarrhoeal drug developments will begin with an initial lead project to discover, optimise and develop drug candidates that treat diarrhoea via inhibition of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) chloride channel. Targeting host mechanisms such as the CFTR channel is a novel approach to the treatment of secretory diarrhoeal diseases. OneWorld Health is conducting searches to license potential drug candidates and has consulted leading researchers to evaluate promising products and identify key development challenges.