With the support from Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited has entered into agreement with Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) to study DSM265 and ELQ300, two anti-malarial compounds.

New compounds are urgently needed to fight malaria, as resistance to current medicines is growing. DSM265 and ELQ300, which kill the malaria parasite through inhibition of essential enzymes, are anti-malarial compounds with a long duration of action. DSM265 has entered clinical phase I studies, and has so far shown a good safety profile. ELQ300, a preclinical candidate, would become an important tool in the control of malaria with the potential for low-dose cures or prophylaxis of the disease.

Under the agreement, MMV will conduct DSM265 clinical studies in collaboration with Takeda using our research and development expertise. MMV and Takeda will also collaborate to solve a challenging formulation issue for ELQ300 using Takeda’s CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls) expertise in solid oral dosage form development.

In June 2013, with support from the GHIT Fund, Takeda began to work with Product Development Partners (PDPs), including MMV, in a programme to screen Takeda’s drug compound library for new candidate compounds that might have the potential to be developed into new drugs for the treatment of infections particularly prevalent in developing countries, such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases.

Takeda will continue to promote its efforts to contribute to global health through a variety of activities including GHIT Fund programs, with the overarching aim of realizing its mission of "striving towards better health for people worldwide through leading innovation in medicine."

The GHIT Fund is a public-private partnership between five Japanese pharmaceutical companies (Astellas Pharma Inc.; Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited; Shionogi & Co., Ltd.; Eisai and Takeda), two government ministries and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, launched in April 2013 with a potential five-year commitment of over US$ 100 million. It is the first fund to involve a consortium of pharmaceutical companies, government and civil society working together to support research and development for neglected diseases. The combination of Japan's government and its pharmaceutical industry—the third largest in the world—brings a powerful engine of knowledge and innovation to the development of medications for the developing world.

MMV is a leading product development partnership (PDP) in the field of antimalarial drug research and development working towards the vision of a malaria-free world.